Secrets of Doheny Library
By: Aedan Henry ‘24 (USC Student Life Guest Blogger)
Doheny Memorial Library is the centerpiece of the USC campus. The beautiful red brick building was built in 1932 and sits across from Bovard Auditorium on Trousdale Parkway. Beyond its gorgeous first floor reading room, many students don’t know much about what Doheny has to offer. Exploring past the lobby, you can find nine floors of dense bookstacks, countless secret study spots, an abundance of research resources, and dozens of special collections and exhibits.
Bookstacks
Just behind the front desk sits the entrance to Doheny’s primary resource: nine floors of labyrinthine bookstacks that cover a massive range of topics. The door may, at first glance, appear to be staff-only, but they are entirely open to students hoping to browse and check out materials.
Hoping to find a book? The materials are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification system, which can be easily navigated with an online guide, or the assistance of a library staff member. The bottom floor of the bookstacks also houses special categories like journals and periodicals.
Tucked against back walls throughout the stacks are study nooks for quiet work in some of the most remote corners of the campus library system. Try to find the secret group-study table on the top floor!
The Cinematic Arts, Music, and East Asian Libraries
The Doheny Library building is also home to three sub-libraries for specialized interests. The ground floor is home to the Cinematic Arts Library, an extensive collection of books, scripts, scores, and other artifacts designed to support the study of film. The Cinematic Arts Library has its own special bookstacks, along with a large reading room with tables and study spots. It also contains the Louis B. Mayer Film and Television Study Center, where students with course related needs can watch almost 13,000 film and television works at designated viewing stations. If you’re lucky, you may also be able to pick up a free movie poster at the front desk!
Down the hall is the Music Library which holds scores, music books, and recordings for students in the School of Music, School of Dance, and School of Dramatic Arts. It also has listening stations for the CDs, LPs, and other recordings.
Moving up to the first floor, around the corner from the front desk, you can find the East Asian Library, which holds Chinese, Japanese, and Korean-language books and research materials with an emphasis on the humanities and social sciences. It also has a beautiful reading room with a more tranquil vibe than the larger spaces on the first floor.
Special Collections
Along with the main library areas, the Doheney building also houses special collections of primary sources in specific areas of study including archives, manuscripts, photographs, and rare books. These collections include Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Iberian and Latin American Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, Natural History, Southern California Regional History, USC History, and the Lion Feuchtwanger Memorial Library. Many of these collections can be accessed under specific research requests.
One special collection of note is the Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland Collection which includes over 3,000 artifacts, manuscripts, and rare books relating to the British children’s author and his Wonderland books. The works include first editions, niche translations, and rare illustrations. The Lewis Carroll Collection also hosts the annual Wonderland Award contest, where student artists at USC can submit original Wonderland-themed work to win scholarship funds.
Harman Academy for Polymathic Study
On the second floor of Doheny, you can find the Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, a space that hosts regular conversational events that encourage interdisciplinary academics. Many of the events are conversations with USC faculty or other expert scholars, designed to expand students’ educational scope across the university’s fields of research.
Research Resources
The core function of every library is research, and Doheny is no exception. The research services that USC libraries provide often go under-used by students. Whether on campus or off, students can take advantage of virtual research tools on the libraries website, including an “Ask a Librarian” chat function to get live, personalized assistance from one of the many librarians on staff. Students can also stop by and talk to a librarian in person! The Doheny front desk can answer basic research questions, while reference librarians are available by appointment or between the hours of 12 to 4 PM on weekdays. Make sure to take full advantage of all the research resources USC has to offer!
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