Inside the sometimes strange and storied world of the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The players in the history of the UCLA William Andrews Clark Memorial Library have stories so colorful that the West Adams site takes on a whole new allure when they come to light.

The space, which marks its 100th anniversary as part of the university this year, already has much to offer book lovers, history buffs, researchers and romantics. Besides being home to the world's most comprehensive collection of Oscar Wilde Holdings, it also specializes in book arts and printing, book history, and Montana and the West.

The library's European revival-style structure, with its travertine marble and dark wood-paneled interior rooms, also tends to leave a strong impression on visitors who come for research, public programming or just to walk the grounds.

Some appear to never leave, including the library's visionary and benefactor, William Andrews Clark Jr. At least, that's what the ghost stories say.

Derek Christian Quezada Meneses has been head librarian at the Clark Library since spring of 2025. While the UCLA alumnus is a self-proclaimed skeptic, he has had experiences in the library that he says he can't explain. He also knows the items themselves - the rare books and manuscripts - have a way of emitting their own kind of "aura," as antiquity so often does.

"There's something about the presence of this material; it really affects you," said Quezada Meneses, who appeared on the UCLA College's "Cabinet of Curiosities" podcast to talk about the library's history, collections and lore. "It makes you feel a part of something deeper and richer."

The site has served as a bookend in Quezada Meneses' academic journey, starting 15 years ago when he worked as a graduate student assistant at the library during his master's program in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. While retrieving rare books and other materials for researchers, he'd hear longtime employees share the library's lore and stories of its intrigue among Hollywood elite. A photo hanging in the offices shows former reader services supervisor Scott Jacobs hugging Al Pacino, who once requested a private tour.

"Jacobs was a massive storyteller," said Quezada Meneses, who later oversaw Jacobs' retirement after returning as head librarian. "He was a vibrant individual who kind of made the Clark what it is."

A collector and his legacy

Coming into his role has required Quezada Meneses not just to be a keeper of the collections at the library, but also a keeper of the Clark family history and legacy, which reaches far beyond Southern California.

Clark Jr. was the son of mining and railroad magnate William Andrews Clark Sr., whose vast fortune allowed the younger Clark to pursue his passions for music, art and books. An accomplished amateur violinist, Clark Jr. founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919 and later helped finance the Hollywood Bowl and the Ford Theater. In 1926, he pledged his private library and the West Adams grounds to UCLA.

Clark Jr.'s contributions to what Quezada Meneses calls the "secret history of Los Angeles" are an imprint that doesn't just stop at buildings. He was a personality at the heart of a cluster of artistic and affluent social circles in the early 20th century, many of which found a hub at his library and private residence at the West Adams property. There, Hollywood elites and entrepreneurs gathered for salons arranged by Clark Jr. to enjoy music and rare books.

Among those in Clark Jr.'s circles was his longtime partner, Harrison Post, whom Clark Jr. also hired to work on the library's interior design. While Clark Jr. was twice widowed, it was during his marriage to his second wife, Alice Genevieve McManus Clark, that he met Post. Quezada Meneses says that the two men's relationship was something of a secret that was out in the open. Their love remains literally inscribed in the building. More than a dozen nude male figures painted in classical poses in the vestibule bear Post's face.

Although it might be tempting to think that Clark Jr.'s Oscar Wilde collection can be attributed in part to the shared sexual identity of the Irish author and book collector, Quezada Meneses said, that's only part of how a copper baron's son in Los Angeles ended up with the world's most comprehensive collection of "Wildeiana."

The old and the new

When Clark Jr. began collecting seriously, he was advised to focus on two literary figures: one old and one new. Since Shakespeare was too expensive, the works of 17th-century English poet, playwright, and critic John Dryden fulfilled the "old" mandate. Wilde was the contemporary.

Wilde's original works were also relatively affordable at the time, as his 1895 London trial for homosexuality had stigmatized the author and depressed the value of his work in Europe, where Quezada Meneses said the fallout was greater than in the United States. In fact, Wilde's American reputation was largely positive due in part to his successful yearlong literary tour of the country and famous embrace of the frontier aesthetic.

Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, has called the Clark Library's holdings the most exhaustive and definitive collection in the world.

"There's a little part of me that is tickled when I hear from scholars from England complaining mildly that they have to travel 'all the way to Los Angeles' in order to study Oscar Wilde," Quezada Meneses said. "I've heard that a number of times."

Still visible throughout Clark Jr.'s collections is his personal bookplate, a decorative label stamped inside a book's cover to indicate its owner. Clark Jr.'s is in the shape of an owl, a symbol that would remain part of the library's identity, though probably not always in the way he imagined.

Quezada Meneses said part of the library's lore is the tale of how a taxidermy barn owl came to reside in the North Book Room. The story was uncovered decades later when researchers discovered a complaint memo against a former head librarian who had found the owl dead on the northern lawn, then chose a rather unconventional place to keep it cool.

"He brought it over to the staff kitchen, moved everyone's lunches, and jammed that big barn owl into the staff refrigerator until he could place a number of calls," Quezada Meneses said, adding that the owl stayed there several days until a taxidermist in Burbank stepped up to the job. "[The librarian] brought it back, and it became this unofficial mascot for the Clark."

A vision for the next century

As the Clark Library approaches its centennial, some of that history is being brought back into view. Along with a new logo, the library is embarking on a revitalization of its grounds, replacing formal hedges with native plants, restoring long-defunct fountains and planting perimeter trees to help create the sense of an urban oasis.

"Clark had a vision for the library that we're still trying to achieve," said Quezada Meneses. "The library is not only a place to do research, to learn, to create knowledge, but also a place of escape, a place of contemplation, of joy."

Centennial programming kicks off Sept. 25 with an opening reception and talk for the exhibition "Private Passions, Public Legacies: Williams Andrews Clark Jr. and the Making of Los Angeles." The fall will also bring "phantasmagoria," or "magic lantern" shows, a centuries-old form of entertainment using projected images and flickering effects to tell stories in a darkened room.

"You don't come into the world of rare books without having some sort of vision of ancient tomes and secret passageways and things like that," said Quezada Meneses, a self-described "former high school goth" who calls leading the Clark Library his dream job.

"You're surrounded by secret books that remind you of things like the 'Necronomicon,' but also people who appreciate that and can chat about it as well."

Hear the whole episode here.