Effective July 5, 2007 the library is open to the public from
noon to 5:00pm, Wednesday - Friday.

The Research Collections, encompassing the North Baker Research Library and Photography Collections, are a major component of the California Historical Society's mission to preserve and collect the state's historical and cultural materials.

The Research Collections contain material relating to the history of California and the West from the early explorations to the present time. Housed at 678 Mission Street in San Francisco, the Research Collections are accessible to the public in the Reading Room; see Doing Research to discover how our staff might assist you with your project.

The California Historical Society is grateful to the California Regrant Project for Local Governments and Historical Record Repositories for funding to expedite a project to complete the arrangement and description of the Mayor James “Sunny Jim” Rolph, Jr. Papers to respond to research demand and to further CHS’ goal to promote access to and use of our collections. The CHS collection is the chief body of primary source materials documenting Rolph's term as Mayor, probably the most significant in the history of San Francisco. Additional support for the project has been generously provided by the Moore Dry Dock Foundation.