First-time visitors to the Library are often struck by the charm and unusualness of the building. This stems in part from its having started as a home, then being converted to offices, and only later becoming a library. The original little adobe house is now an exhibit room with changing displays illustrating various facets of our Pacific Southwest heritage.
The Library acquires, organizes, and preserves all kinds of materials pertaining to the history of the Pacific Southwest. This is a region we define as including California, Arizona, and adjacent portions of Nevada, plus the area around the upper end of the Gulf of California. This region has undergone an astonishing transformation over the past 100 years or so. . .a transformation perhaps without parallel in the history of the world. For today, outside of the United States itself, there are only a handful of nations in the world whose economies exceed that of this naturally arid and at one time remote and sparsely inhabited corner of the globe. To provide research materials needed to study and comprehend the varied aspects of this phenomenal development is one of the main purposes of the Library.
During its relatively short existence, the Library has accumulated substantial amounts of historical materials. It contains approximately 25,000 books, pamphlets and other printed items, a very sizeable number of maps and photographs, several hundred thousand papers and documents, and more than 2,000 reels of microfilmed material. Among the microfilm holdings are back files of several of the region's old newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times from its beginnings in 1881. We are also the repository of the archives of the Southern Pacific Historical and Technological Society --that is, for S.P. materials donated and their archives by the Society's more than 3,000 members. (We are NOT, however, the repository for the archives of the former Southern Pacific Company itself, which of course are of enormous quantity.)
Those who use the Library include researchers of all ages, from the young student writing a paper for elementary school to the graduate student preparing a doctoral dissertation; historians, environmental consultants, and so forth; and fiction as well as non-fiction writers. Our directories collection is among the most highly used portion of the Library.
Sherman Library & Gardens is a 2.2 acre Corona del Mar horticultural retreat.The Gardens provide a museum of living plants, displayed amidst a setting of immaculate gardens, patios and conservatories linked together by wide brick walkways, beds blooming with seasonal flowers and bubbling tile fountains. The Library is a specialized research center devoted to the study of the Pacific Southwest.
We currently have over 150 hard-working, dedicated volunteers that help wherever needed, donating thousands of hours annually tending baskets and flower beds, and working in the greenhouse and Garden Shop.
The Docent Guild of Sherman Library & Gardens was founded in 1980. Over time, the group has grown to 60 full-time members. The primary function of the Docent Guild is to provide educational tours of the Gardens.
We're located in the Corona del Mar Village (directions) and offer a wide range of programs and classes for the community.
