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Established in 1938, the library collection is housed in the Docent Study Center, Hoover, Hyman, and Toor libraries. The library collection strengths reflect those of the museum's art collection: 19th, 20th, and 21st-century art with an emphasis on contemporary California art, classic Western American art, Indigenous American art, Mexican art, European modern sculpture, contemporary glass studio art, prints and printmaking, American photography, American mid-20th- century architecture and design, and the history of the desert region during the 20th century. The library has over 12,000 books, 2,600 artist files, art periodicals, clipping files, auction house catalogs, and reference resources. The library also manages the institutional archive of the museum including historical photographs, internal publications, exhibition catalogs, memorabilia, and off-site storage of museum records. The Lorraine Boccardo Archive Study Center includes special collections and archival holdings for a number of well-known Southern California architects, designers, and practitioners. These include Albert Frey, Harold C. Broderick / Arthur Elrod Associates, Inc., Donald Wexler, E. Stewart Williams, Hugh M. Kaptur, Patrick McGrew, Louis Shoall Miller, Stephen Willard, Harold 'Buzz' Waltz, Val Powelson, William F. Cody, Michael Black, John Porter Clark, William Krisel, Francisco J. Urrutia, Howard P. Lapham, Robert 'Bob' Marx (Marval Construction), and many others. Special Collection primary source materials include architectural drawings, renderings, photographs, negatives, slides, models, correspondence, scrapbooks, clippings, postcards, publications, and other unique materials.
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