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Doheny Library

Coordinates: 34°01′12″N 118°17′02″W / 34.0201°N 118.2838°W / 34.0201; -118.2838
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Doheny Library
Doheny Library
Map
34°01′12″N 118°17′02″W / 34.0201°N 118.2838°W / 34.0201; -118.2838
LocationUniversity Park, Los Angeles, United States
TypeAcademic library
ScopeUniversity
Established1932
Branch ofUniversity of Southern California Libraries
Other information
DirectorSophie Lesinska
Websitehttps://libraries.usc.edu/locations/doheny-memorial-library

The Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library is a library located in the center of campus at the University of Southern California (USC).

History

After the shooting of his son, the Irish American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny donated $1.1 million in 1932 to USC to build the Doheny Library. While the exterior of the library was designed by architect Ralph Adams Cram, the interiors and the final working drawings for the building were designed by Pasadena based architect, Samuel Lunden.[1] With its use of rounded arches, pale brick and limestone, the library was designed to be suggestive of Romanesque style architecture in Northern Italy and additionally, given its association with USC and higher education, is adorned with statues of Shakespeare and Dante in its main entrance and the marble etching above the front doors depicts a sitting scene of a teacher instructing two students. When the library was initially constructed it was built to hold between 450,000 and 500,000 volumes, but a wing expansion in the 1960 doubled that number, meeting the projects of then head librarian at USC, Charlotte Brown. The gardens were designed by A.E. Hanson (1893-1986).[2]

Second Floor[3]

Used primarily for offices and collaborative workspaces, staff members working on the section floor work in the acquisition, preservation, and display of unique archival materials that the library has in its possession.

Film Use

The Doheny Library was used as a filming location for Mike Nichols' 1967 film The Graduate, for the sequence in which Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) waits by the fountain for Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross), who exits the library's main door.[4] The library's exterior entrance, rotunda and one of its halls was also used to film the library scenes in Danny DeVito's 1996 film, Matilda, though the library is left nameless in the film itself. The rotunda was modified to include a large rounded reference desk and two large stacks were added to the hall used in the film.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Doheny Memorial Library History". USC Libraries. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  2. ^ The Cultural Landscape Foundation
  3. ^ "Doheny Memorial Library History". USC Libraries. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Graduate" film locations, The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, last updated September 7, 2014.
  5. ^ "Matilda (1996) Film Locations - Global Film Locations". globalfilmlocations.net. June 22, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2022.

Media related to Doheny Memorial Library (USC) at Wikimedia Commons