Frederick Law Olmsted Collection:

In December 1988, the Frederick Law Olmsted Society (FLOS) of Riverside in an Agreement with the Riverside Public Library established a memorial to Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s greatest landscape architect and the designer of the Village of Riverside. Riverside was certified as a National Historic Landscape District and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.  It is known internationally as the first example of a planned residential community. The Agreement, which established a permanent collection of books and materials relevant to Olmsted and his works, was donated by the Frederick Law Olmsted Society to the Riverside Public Library.  The Library is honored to  house this wonderful collection.

The collection has books on Frederick Law Olmsted himself, his associates, his writings, works and biography, landscape architecture and its history, famous landscapes and parks, as well as the people who influenced American landscape design. Also included is Riverside history, development and architecture as it relates to the landscaping, planning and design of Riverside and communities like it.  Names of Riverside’s streets are subjects for the collection since many were named for people who influenced Olmsted and his landscaping philosophy. The complete collection of Olmsted’s letters and writings is reproduced on microfilm and available for reading and viewing.

Open to the public, the Olmsted Collection is located in the southwest corner on the main floor of the Riverside Public Library.  A microfilm viewer available. Library staff are nearby to assist you, as there are first edition books and other valuable titles available for reference only. Most materials are available for circulation with a Riverside Library or  Metropolitan  Library System member card. The Olmsted area is open during regular library hours.

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© Riverside Library 1997     Revised 06/09/2010
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