The Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library was established in 1948 to support the University's teaching and research programs in East Asian Studies.

The East Asian Library ranked thirteenth in holdings nationally in the 1992-93 Committee for East Asian Libraries survey. Although it is one of the younger major collections in the country, its additions in the last five years place it among the six fastest growing East Asian collections in the United States. The Library selects, organizes, and makes available Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language materials. Its staff provides reference, circulation, and instruction services to optimize access and use of the collections.

As of August 2000, the total holdings of the East Asian Library consisted of over 425,000 volumes. The library currently receives over 2,700 serial titles.

Chinese Holdings
The East Asian Library has some 235,000 volumes in Chinese in its East Asian collection. The collection is strong in Chinese archaeology, Buddhism, premodern history and classical literature, and fine arts. Special efforts have been made in recent years to strengthen local historical materials and Chinese statistical yearbooks. The East Asian Library holds the most comprehensive collection of primary sources related to the Chinese imperial civil service examinations, 1400-1900, outside of China. In the Han Yu-shan Special Collection are some 1,500 Ming and Qing dynasty examination papers and many printed works on the academies dating from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries.

Japanese Holdings
The East Asian collection contains some 152,000 volumes in Japanese. It is strong in Japanese Buddhism, religion, folklore, premodern history, and classical literature of Japan, and Japanese fine arts. Special efforts have been made in recent years to strengthen Japanese local historical materials.

Korean Holdings
The East Asian Library has begun aggressively to assemble a solid collection of Korean research materials and is now ranked sixth among university libraries in the size of its holdings. Its collection features some 31,000 volumes in the Korean language, with emphasis on literature, Buddhism, and history. The Korean Collection receives large numbers of book donations, with donors ranging from major foundations to interested individuals. In addition, the library was recently designated the first foreign depository library for publications issued by the government of the Republic of Korea, creating a major archive for contemporary Korean Studies at UCLA. All of the Korean holdings are now catalogued on-line and are accessible via ORION (the University Library's online information system). A full-time Korean Librarian, Mi-Kyung Kang, was hired in 1993 to coordinate collection development.

Location

The East Asian Library is located on the second floor of the Charles E. Young Library (Room 21617).
The Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library website

UCLA Young Research Library Holdings in Asian Studies
UCLA's Young Research Library (YRL) ranks with Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley, as one of the top three research libraries in the country, with some six-million volumes in its collections. While Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials are concentrated in the East Asian Library, located within the Young Research Library building, all other languages are catalogued by subject within the YRL. There are important holdings in South and Southeast Asian languages, as well as extensive holdings about all parts of Asia in English and other Western languages. At the YRL website there are sections on some of their major Asian holdings:

YRL Collections in General Asian Studies
YRL Collections in East Asian Studies
YRL Collections in Southeast Asian Studies
UCLA's Young Research Library and its East Asian Library maintain holdings including western language materials and select vernacular language materials relating to Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This is a growing field where new programs are being established, especially with the help of a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation received in 1996.

YRL Collections in South Asian Studies