Special Collections  

The library's Special Collections department oversees five major collections:

•     The California Room (RCC) collection, at the Central Library, contains over 16,000 titles on Southern California and Baja California history.  It includes printed books, journals, pamphlets, maps, and original source materials. 

•      The Newspaper Room (NSP), at the Central Library, holds current subscriptions for 75 newspapers, indexes to major city newspapers, and complete runs of San Diego newspapers on microfilm.  Archival newspaper collections include a complete runs of the San Diego Union (1868--), the San Diego Sun, Tribune, and Herald.

•       The Genealogy Room (RGY), at the Central Library, has 6,800 volumes on family history, including “how to” materials, passenger and immigration lists, 130 CD-ROM titles, and a complete set of Dawes Rolls. 

•       The Wangenheim Room (WANG), at the Central Library, contains the rare book collection of the library with over 9000 volumes on the history of printing and the book. 

 •       The SDPL Digital Library is a growing collection of digital documents, maps, photographs, and other materials, that feature San Diego history. 

Contact Information:

Richard Crawford, Supervisor

speccoll@sandiego.gov

 619-236-5853

The library's Special Collections will help you: find information about your neighborhood; trace your family history; list your house as a historic building; find out about famous San Diegans and San Diego landmarks and much more...

•       Many highlights of the local history collection have been digitized and are now available through the SDPL Digital Library

•        Historic maps of the San Diego region, including Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: large-format maps bound into atlases indicating specific city blocks and buildings.

•         San Diego city and county business directories, beginning in 1886, and Haines “criss-cross” Directories, beginning in 1970.

•         Aerial photographs of San Diego County (Lenska Aerial Atlas), 1960s—

•          Index to obituaries from the San Diego Union

•         Priceless unique or out of print books and other irreplaceable resources

Since 2004, the San Diego Public Library and the City of San Diego Water Department have collaborated on a project to preserve and catalog important historical materials that document the history of water development in our region. Products of this partnership have included several historical exhibits which are featured at the Central Library.

The San Diego Union Tribune is available on CD ROM (Newsbank) in the Newspaper Room from 1989 onwards. The CD ROM can be searched electronically by keyword. For San Diego news prior to 1989 there is microfilm, indexed by cards available in the California Room.

A-Z newspaper clipping files on various local subjects are located in the California Room.

The San Diego Historical Society, (website www.sandiegohistory.org) offers an electronic search of the full-text of all back issues of the Journal of San Diego History. You can also electronically search the full-text of two of the most prominent local histories: The History of San Diego 1542-1908 by Smythe and The History of San Diego by Pourade.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show land use in detail. These are available in the California Room and online through our website: look under 'S' in the Articles and Databases A-Z.

Haines Directories allow you to track who lived at a specific address from 1926 onwards. Available in the California Room.

The library catalog is worth searching via keyword. The library has some books on specific local topics.

School Yearbook information is also available in the California Room.

Other California newspapers. You can search for information on any California newspaper, past or present, at the California Newspaper Project (http://cnp.ucr.edu/)