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Book Arts Collection

The Book Arts Collection is a reference collection of over 700 volumes on the art and history of the book, focusing on its development in California and the United States. The core of the collection was a donation by Harold Gross and an endowment by Barbara Gorman. The Book Arts Collection also includes the William & Patricia Standring Collection of English genealogy which is on deposit in Special Collections from the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society.

Leo Politi Collection

Leo Politi (1908-1996) was a renowned artist and author of many children's books featuring Southern California landmarks and cultural heritage of this region. From 1967 through the 1970s Mr. Politi made many visits to the Conejo Library (which later became the Thousand Oaks Library) You can see Politi's work in our Book Arts Collection. Additionally, some original sketches made for the "boys and girls of the Conejo" are online at our Calisphere site.



All Book Arts titles can be found in the Library Catalog.

Standring Collection

The William and Patricia Standring Collection belongs to the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society, and is on deposit with the Library. These rare titles on British genealogy are searchable on the Library Catalog. Special Collections houses the older and more fragile of these books, and makes them available to researchers by appointment.


Download the Finding Aid for the Standring Collection