Library

The Huntington Library is one of the world’s great independent research libraries, holding 12 million items spanning the 11th through 21st centuries. Researchers from some 30 countries make thousands of visits each year to study rare materials in the Library’s reading rooms. Thousands more utilize the Library’s virtual services, and millions use its virtual collections. Some 85 Library staff play a critical role in cultivating and expanding access to the collections, creating new opportunities for discovery and engagement, and ensuring that collections are preserved for the future.

Library News

Illustrated rendering of a two-story building with stairs flanked by trees and plants.

A Once-In-A-Century Project: The Library/Art Building

The Library/Art Building (LAB) is a once-in-a-century project that will restore the historic public-facing wing of the 1919 Library exhibition halls—designed by architect Myron Hunt—and modernize back-of-house spaces for today. The Huntington remains open and active, with 130 acres of botanical gardens, art galleries, exhibitions and programs, and rare library materials on view across the campus.

Learn More about the LAB

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The Huntington Acquires the Archive and Library of Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer Kim Stanley Robinson

The archive and personal library of a leading science fiction author offer insight into his creative process and his engagement with climate, science, and society.

See "Stories from the Library" in the Huntington Art Gallery

Drawing from the Library’s approximately 12 million items, “Stories from the Library,” is an ongoing exhibition series that takes place in two rooms in the historic Huntington Art Gallery. Each exhibition uses an unexpected theme to frame a remarkable item and related works.

Library Collections

All Collections

People sit at tables doing research in the Ahmanson Reading Room

Using the Library

Every year, researchers from over 30 countries make more than 20,000 visits to the Library’s reading rooms, and thousands more make use of the Library’s virtual services and digital collections.

Learn More

Highlights from the Collections

Programs and Stories

About the Library

One of the world’s largest collections of British medieval manuscripts, including the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
One of 12 surviving copies on vellum of the Gutenberg Bible, the jewel of the second-largest collection of incunabula (15th-century printed books) in the United States.
A leading repository for Americana, including extensive holdings for Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson, and such gems as the original manuscript of Franklin’s autobiography.
Extensive collections on the American West, including the great 19th-century photographic surveys and original sources about overland migration, industry and transport, and Native Americans.

Sandra Brooke Gordon

Avery Director of the Library

Sandra Brooke Gordon joined the Huntington in 2018 as Avery Director of the Library. She reports directly to the President and oversees some 75 librarians and support personnel. Her position focuses on strategic and financial planning and donor development. Some key areas of responsibility are engaging the large constituent communities of The Huntington and the general public through programming, exhibitions, and talks; making expert decisions regarding creating a digital environment; promoting the importance of maintaining a library of unique, valuable, and historically significant books and manuscripts; and collaborating with and complementing the other collection areas of The Huntington and the Research Division.

626-405-2244
librarydirector@huntington.org

Library Administration (626-405-2244)

Library

More in this section

Library News

A Once-In-A-Century Project: The Library/Art Building

The Huntington Acquires the Archive and Library of Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer Kim Stanley Robinson

See "Stories from the Library" in the Huntington Art Gallery

Library Collections

Using the Library

Highlights from the Collections

Programs and Stories

About the Library

Staff Directory

Sandra Brooke Gordon

Mona Shulman

Jennifer A. Watts

Anne Blecksmith

Vanessa Wilkie, Ph.D.

Erin Chase

Sarah Francis

Josh Garrett-Davis, Ph.D.

Diego Godoy, Ph.D.

Joel A. Klein, Ph.D.

Linde Lehtinen, Ph.D.

Daniel Lewis, Ph.D.

David H. Mihaly

Karla Ann Merino Nielsen, Ph.D.

Stephen Tabor

Olga Tsapina, Ph.D.

Li Wei Yang

Mario Einaudi

Holly Moore

Audrey Pearson