The collection features United States Geological Survey topographic maps for the entire United States, nautical charts for domestic and international waters, historic street maps of Los Angeles back to 1849, historic street guides back to the 1929, and the Library of Congress collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases on microfilm and online covering the state of California. The History Department has current subscriptions to many newspapers published throughout California, along with a representative sampling of papers from other states, as well as The Times of London. Newspapers published in languages in other than English are kept in the International Languages Department. For information on older issues of newspapers, please consult the library catalog's Periodical Holdings. The Library's collections include 350,000 photographs of Los Angeles beginning in the 1880s and the 2.5 million photo morgue of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper.
Photographs are available for viewing by appointment only.
Photographic prints may be ordered for a fee. Tours General tours of the Central Library are conducted by the Docents . Photofriends Photofriends is a support group interested in photography and the photographic collections that sponsor the Photographer's Eye and other programs for its members and for the public. A reference librarian can give you more detailed direction.