The Academy Library, founded in 1853, is a research library devoted to natural history and the natural sciences. Our subject strengths include: Systematics and Taxonomy, Evolutionary Biology, Biodiversity, Biogeography, Local and Regional Natural Sciences, and Natural History. Our varied collections that include books, journals (in print and online), photographs, slides, digital images, maps, primary source materials, and other media.
Library
Library Collections
Featured Item: The Alice Eastwood Papers
Alice Eastwood is one of the most treasured figures in Academy history, and her personal papers, correspondence, photographs, and other items are among the most consulted collections in the Academy Archives. Alice Eastwood is remembered for her many achievements, including saving 1,497 botany type specimens from the fire that consumed the Academy building following the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The Archives recently completeted a finding aid for the Alice Eastwood Papers to aid researchers in using this collection.
Main Library
The Main Library collections include the Research, Reference, Rare Books, Serials, and Map Collections. This collection is curated and maintained by the librarians in close consultation with Academy curators and staff. All of these holdings are represented in the Academy Library catalog.
Academy Archives
The Academy Archives is part of Library Special Collections, and includes material on the history of the Academy, the history of science in the West, and the research of scientists throughout the Pacific Rim. Box lists, finding aids, and biographies are available for many of our archives and manuscript collections.
Corsi Digital Library
The Corsi Digital Library offers scan on demand services for Academy staff and visiting researchers. The Corsi Digital Library also maintains a collection of 18,000 digital images documenting Academy history and expeditions, which are available for on-site use.
Manzanita Image Project
The Manzanita Image Project is a Web resource of images of plants, animals, fungi, landscapes & habitats and people & culture from the California Academy of Sciences Library. The project is a partnership with CalPhotos, a project of the University of California, Berkeley Digital Library. Use of Manzanita Project images is easy and free for educational use.
Search Collections
Use the Catalog to find books, journals, maps, rare books, media, and Naturalist Center collections.
Browse the List of Manuscript Collections
Browse a list of material on the history of the Academy, the history of science in the West, and the research of scientists throughout the Pacific Rim.
Search the Manzanita Image Project
The Manzanita Image Project is an image database of flora, fauna, and landscapes available online in conjunction with the University of California, Berkeley.
The Naturalist Center offers a wide range of resources and services to individuals interested in learning more about the natural world, including library borrowing privileges for Academy members and California educators.
Contact
- Library
- California Academy of Sciences
- 55 Music Concourse Drive
- San Francisco, CA 94118
- 415-379-5484 (direct)
- library@calacademy.org