The library's heritage collection was recently valued at $25 million, much to the delight of head of collection services Linda Geddes.
"It's significant for the city and it's a significant heritage collection in New Zealand," she said.
Former Hocken librarian Stuart Strachan led the two-year Dunedin City Council-funded valuation project, which focused on the Reed and McNab heritage collections.
Medieval manuscripts, a millennium-old fragment of Greek papyrus, many first editions, a "fantastic bible collection" and writings of Cook, Read and Larnach make up the 110,000-strong anthology.
"We've got some unique items, even on a national and international scale," Ms Geddes said.
While the McNab collection, which focuses on Pacific exploration and New Zealand history, was "constantly being accessed", the Reed collection, which includes medieval manuscripts and the works of Charles Dickens, was viewed less often.
The $25 million valuation, including the library's artwork, which was valued at more than $3 million in 2006, $1.95 million of which was attributed to Colin McCahon's pieces, recently received endorsement from Audit New Zealand.
While Ms Geddes could not identify all of the valuable pieces in the collection, many were found to be worth more than $1000.
Mr Strachan had been especially surprised to see the serials collection, she said, as "he had never seen such pristine copies".
"For me, the stand-out thing is just the completion of the project ... It seemed quite insurmountable in the first instance, but it was very satisfying to get it recognised.
"It's recognition, really, and that's what we need to preserve this collection ... It's money that talks."
