Skip to Main Content
site header image

Arboretum Library: General Information
about the Library Collections

The Arboretum Library contains a comprehensive collection of resources on gardening, botany, California native plant life, environmental issues, and some agriculture as these subjects relate to the plants native to and planted in Southern California.

Library Circulation Policy for Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation Members

 

Circulation Privileges

Books may be checked out by Arboretum members for three weeks at a time, plus an additional two renewals if needed. Items may be renewed in person, by phone, or by email. Current and some non-current magazines may be checked out as well, with no renewals. Please be sure to have your Membership Card with you.  Learn more about becoming a member of the Arboretum.

 

Books

 

 

The Arboretum Library houses more than 20,000 books with a particular emphasis on plants grown in the Mediterranean and semi-tropical climates.

•  More than 20,000 books in open stacks, accessible through the online catalog
•  Children's books are housed separately in a space for children and their caregivers.
•  Fiction - explore mysteries and more with plant related themes
•  Oversized books, reference works and some other groups housed separately
•  Rare book collection housed separately - books retrieved for viewing on request
•  New books are on the racks on the front of the book stacks for easy browsing.
•  Over 6,500 e-books accessible through the online catalog for Arboretum members.

Collections

The Arboretum Library contains a comprehensive collection of resources on gardening, botany, California native plant life, environmental issues, and some agriculture as these subjects relate to the plants native to and planted in Southern California. This includes books, magazines, government documents, pamphlets, and audio-visual materials.

Subjects include, but not limited to:

  • All aspects of gardens & gardening                 
  • Specific kinds of plants; both native & non-native     
  • Garden design                                                 
  • Horticultural history
  • Plant lore                                                         
  • Ethnobotany & economic plants
  • Medical botany                                                 
  • Botanical art, illustration, & nature crafts

Nursery Catalogs

  

Visitors interested in locating sources of garden plants have access to more than 200 current retail, wholesale, and equipment catalogs. There are also archival catalog holdings useful to researchers in horticultural history as well as historic house home owners.

Periodicals

8-DSC_0938_39_40_tonemapped

This collection includes nearly 100 current magazine subscriptions, as well as 500 non-current or out-of-print titles, covering botany, popular gardening, plant society magazines, green industry magazines and magazines from other botanic gardens.

Additional Collections

                                                                                               

*Pamplets - A variety of pamphlets are integrated into the books stacks with bibliographic entries in the card catalog.

*Slides - The William Aplin slide collection contains 7,000 images of plants, landscapes and the Arboretum taken from the 1940s to the 1980s. The plant slides are searchable in electronic format in BG-BASE through the Curator of Plant Collections. Contact the librarian.

*Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden Plant Collection Lists. *Lists are arranged by genus, family, accession number and Arboretum location.

*CDs, videos and DVDs.

*Historical photograph collection - Over 1,000 historical photographs of the Arboretum and environs including "Lucky" Baldwin ranch pictures as well as movies and television programs filmed here.

Arboretum Library