Identification of binding media in paint layers is a very important task before any restoration and conservation treatment, not only for detailed studies of artist techniques, but also for authentication purposes. Binding media used throughout the ages ranged from chemically complicated natural products to modern polymeric materials. This makes binding media identification very challenging and demands well characterized standard materials. Rutherford J. Gettens started the first important collection of binding media in the late 1920's at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum. The collection's contents and organization are critically analyzed in this paper. Knowledge gained during our work with the Gettens Collection has been implemented in the design and initial work on a new GCI Binding Media Library which will serve our filed in the future. Organization of the library, its documentation and access, is discussed in detail. Future development of the library depends on a national and international collaboration between all institutions and individuals which are actively involved in characterization of binding media or seek binding media information for their restoration or conservation work.