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The cornerstone of the current collection is an important group of 700 Methodist and other denominational hymnbooks acquired by Drew in 1868 from David Creamer (1812-1887), a Baltimore businessman, prominent Methodist layman, and author of the first American commentary on Wesleyan hymns, Methodist Hymnology (1848). Creamer's collection is the largest and earliest collection of hymnody in the United States that is still intact, and as such constitutes a rich resource for students of early denominational music and publishing, early Methodism, and book collecting. 350 volumes were printed before 1800, the earliest in 1603. Methodist items include all of the Wesleys' works save one (later obtained in facsimile). Many of the books contain Creamer's extensive annotations regarding variant editions and dates, the music sources and publishing histories of earlier editions, reviews in contemporary journals, and the identification of unsigned texts appearing in the book.
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Methodist hymnals (including those from the Creamer collection), housed in the Methodist Center, include British and American hymnals, both "official" and other, and those of the United Brethren and related groups, as well as Pentecostal, revival, and camp meeting hymnbooks. Drew's non-Methodist hymnbooks (including 500 also from the Creamer collection) are located in the main library. All of the hymnals are cataloged and accessible through the library's online catalog.