Research Library Collections

The Library Collections include over 140,000 items relating to Ventura County history. The Library is affiliated with the Ventura County Library and is open to the public. However, the materials in the collection do not circulate. 

Library Collections include:

• County newspapers from the 1870s to the present.
• Research materials on all aspects of county history, including books, periodicals, oral histories, architectral plans and drawings, and original manuscripts.
• Over 35,000 photographs and over 2,500 postcards.
• Over 5,000 maps, many of them unique and hand-drawn.
• Articles of Incorporation for Ventura County businesses from the 1870s to the present. 

The Museum Library accepts donations of books, periodicals, documents and photographs that fall within our collecting priorities. For information on donations, or for other information about the Library, please contact Charles N. Johnson, Librarian/Archivist at library@venturamuseum.org.

ONLINE CATALOGS TO THE RESEARCH LIBRARY BOOK COLLECTION
 
Through ongoing partnerships with the Ventura County Library and with the Central Coast Museum Consortium, many of the Museum's Reseach Library Collection records are available online.
 
The VENTURA COUNTY LIBRARY online catalog combines the Museum research library book and manuscript records with the records of all 15 branches of the public library.

The CENTRAL COAST MUSEUM CONSORTIUM combines the Museum research library book and manuscript records with the library records of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Santa Barbara Historical Society, and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Records may be searched individually or collectively by any combination of libraries.