Clark Library
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| Established | 1924 |
|---|---|
| Location | 2520 Cimarron St, Los Angeles, California 90018 |
| Coordinates | 34°01′59″N 118°18′51″W / 34.03303°N 118.31426°WCoordinates: 34°01′59″N 118°18′51″W / 34.03303°N 118.31426°W |
| Branches | N/A |
| Collection | |
| Size | 110,000 (rare books); 22,000 (rare manuscripts) (2007) |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | Library does not circulate |
| Other information | |
| Budget | US$30,000,000 (total endowment) |
| Director | Helen Deutsch |
| Staff | 6 (FTE) |
| Website | |
| Designated | October 9, 1964 |
| Reference no. | 28 |
The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (Clark Library), one of twelve official libraries at the University of California, Los Angeles, is one of the most comprehensive rare books and manuscripts libraries in the United States, with particular strengths in English literature and history (1641-1800), Oscar Wilde, and fine printing. It is located about ten miles from UCLA, in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, and two miles west of the University of Southern California. It is administered by UCLA's Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies, which offers several prestigious fellowships for graduate and postdoctoral scholars to use the Library's collections. However, any reader with a serious interest in the collection is welcome to study.
The heart of the Clark's academic activity is its core programs, a series of interdisciplinary events developed around a common theme. Core programs may range from three or four consecutive workshops to a series spanning a year or more, with a full complement of symposia, workshops, graduate seminars, and public lectures. The core programs are organized each year by the current Clark Professor or Professors, who are encouraged to design programs that will lead to publication in the Center/Clark series (published by the University of Toronto Press).
The library and its collections were built by William Andrews Clark, Jr., in memoriam of his father, U.S. Senator William Andrews Clark, Sr. who amassed a mining fortune in Montana, Arizona, and Nevada. Clark Jr., a prominent collector and philanthropist, originally had a mansion at the corner of Adams Boulevard and Cimarron, but the structure was demolished. The current library, designed by architect Robert D. Farquhar, was constructed from 1924 to 1926 on the same site. After its completion, Clark Jr. announced his intent to donate the collection (then around 13,000 books), the buildings, and the square-block property to the Southern Branch of the University of California. The deed, along with a $1.5 million endowment, was transferred upon his death in 1934. It was UCLA's first major bequest, and still one of the most generous in the university's history. In 2009, nuclear physicist Paul Chrzanowski donated his collection of 72 Shakespeare books, published between 1479 and 1731, to the Clark Library.
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