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The library system of the University of California, Los Angeles has over eight million books and 70,000 serials spread over 12 libraries and 11 other archives, reading rooms, and research centers. It is among the top 15 largest library systems in the United States, and among the top 10 university library systems in the nation. It is a Federal Depository Library, California State Depository Library, and United Nations Depository Library.

1883-1944
The University Library at Los Angeles was founded in 1883, two years after the establishment of the California State Normal School. The library's first acquisition was Survey of Wyoming and Idaho by Dr. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden In 1910, Elizabeth Fargo began her tenure as the University's first librarian. By 1919, the University Library was run by a staff of four and had collected 24,000 volumes and by 1931, the Princeton Library Survey ranked the Library 36th in the country.

Upon Elizabeth Fargo's retirement in 1923, John E. Goodwin inherited a collection of 42,000 volumes, tended to by 12 staff members. He planned for the orderly expansion of the library by the immediate reclassification of books from the Dewey Decimal System to the Library of Congress Classification System. He also opposed and eventually defeated a proposal to make the library at Los Angeles an adjunct collection of a main research library at UC Berkeley.

Starting in 1929, Goodwin oversaw the construction and development of the Main Library, which was built after the University settled in its present location in Westwood. Goodwin also saw the bequest of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library to UCLA in 1934. By the time Goodwin retired in 1944, the Library collection grew to 462,000 volumes supported by 52 staff members.

1944- present
Lawrence Clark Powell became the next and most famous University Librarian. During his tenure (1944-1961) the Library underwent major physical expansion; the central book stack was completed; and the library provided new collections to support many new programs of study. He was also founding Dean of the School of Library Service (now part of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies) from 1959 until 1966. About his work for the UCLA libraries, Powell wrote: "I saw the University Library's stock of 285,000 volumes increase to 2,000,000, the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library transformed from a bookish mausoleum to a center of biblio-scholarly activity, a staff of 35 grow to 300, a library school come into being, and UCLA become known internationally as a dynamic place of books and learning." Several facilities at UCLA would later be named after Powell, including the College (undergraduate) Library.

Robert Vosper was appointed as University Librarian in 1961, and the following year, ground was broken for the first unit of the University Research Library, now Young Research Library, named for Charles E. Young, which was completed in 1964. At that time, "some 14 miles of books and four million index cards" were carted across the Los Angeles campus to the new six-story building, which then became the administrative center for the campus library system. The Main Library was then converted to the College Library.

Vosper was succeeded by Page Ackerman in 1973 until her retirement in 1977. She was the first woman in the United States to head such a large and complex library system. Ackerman was a leader in developing the Library's innovative administrative network, which became a model for library management systems across the country, and she played a key role in getting the UCLA Library staff covered by the public employees retirement system. One of the major developments during Ackerman's tenure was the increasing coordination of efforts by the libraries of all UC campuses, which was initially brought about by state budget problems.

UCLA's most recent University Librarians have been Russell Shank (1977-1990), Gloria Werner (1990-2002), and Gary E. Strong (2003 - present).

Powell Library
Powell Library is UCLA's primary undergraduate library. The Library was one of the four original buildings at the new campus, along with Royce, Haines, Powell and Kinsey, all of which have come to symbolically and architecturally represent the campus. Architects George Kelham and David Allison felt that Westwood's rolling hills and promixity to the ocean resembled a Northern Italian atmosphere. Powell was therefore constructed as a Lombardian adaptation of Italian architecture, featuring many aspects that can be considered Romanesque and Byzantine. An effort to reflect Spanish influence in Southern California is seen in Moorish touches to the basic design. A major influence in Powell's architecture is the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan "UCLA Today"

William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The building that houses the William Andrews Clark Memorial pre-dates Powell Library, having finished completion in 1926. It is located about thirteen miles from UCLA, in the West Adams District of Los Angeles. The Library contains an extensive collection of rare books and collections, English Literature and history from 1641-1800, fine and elaborate printing and Oscar Wilde materials


 * Arts Library[[Image:Powell_Library,_UCLA_(10_December_2005).jpg|thumb|225x300px|right|Powell Library]]
 * Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
 * College (undergraduate) Library (Powell Library)
 * Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library
 * Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library
 * Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Management Library
 * Music Library
 * Charles E. Young Research Library
 * Science and Engineering Library
 * Southern Regional Library Facility
 * Gonda Family University Elementary School Library
 * William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
 * ASUCLA Library
 * American Indian Studies Center Library
 * Asian American Studies Center Reading Room
 * Center for African American Studies Library
 * Chicano Studies Research Center Library
 * Grace M. Hunt Memorial English Reading Room
 * Ethnomusicology Archive
 * Film and Television Archive
 * Institute for Social Science Research Data Archives Library
 * Instructional Media Library
 * UCLA Oral History Program