The Research Library at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art believes illustrated stories connect us and reflect the shared beliefs that create community. The museum is founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson with the conviction that art is an emotional connection between the viewer and the story; art is in the eye of the beholder.

The building is designed by architect Ma Yansong of MAD with US -based architecture firm, Stantec. It sits in Los Angeles's Exposition Park on an 11-acre campus with green space designed by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA. The 300,000-square-foot structure features galleries, two theaters, a retail store, a library, a café, a restaurant, and event spaces. 

The three-story Library features high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and expansive glass windows offering views of the Museum's park and gardens

The general research collections provide context for the themes explored in the Museum’s exhibition galleries: artists and creators, stories of everyday life, mythology, fantasy, imagined worlds, and more. These holdings span art history, illustration, cinema, folklore, anthropology, literature, design, and popular culture, reflecting the inherently interdisciplinary nature of narrative art.

The rare books collections expand this exploration of narrative traditions. These collections include materials dedicated to children’s literature, the history of illustration, graphic arts, underground and political comics, independent publishing, and the creative communities that have shaped alternative visual cultures.

Notable holdings include:

• works from Kitchen Sink Press, the influential independent publisher known for championing underground comics
• works by artists such as R. Crumb whose illustrations challenged conventions of visual expression and expanded the possibilities of the medium
• the Library’s collection of more than 30,000 comic books, with significant depth in comics of the Silver Age.

This collection includes more than 2,900 volumes from the personal library of the renowned writer who transformed the study of mythology, literature, and storytelling. Campbell’s articulation of the “hero’s journey” became one of the most influential frameworks for understanding the human experience, impacting generations of writers, artists, and filmmakers and inspiring George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars. Containing Campbell’s annotated books and research notes, the collection spans comparative mythology, psychology, religion, anthropology, ritual practice, the occult, literature, and the study of civilizations across the globe, illuminating the interdisciplinary pathways through which Campbell explored the archetypal patterns underlying storytelling.

This library (formerly the Lucasfilm Research Library) includes many of the resources that George Lucas and other filmmakers have consulted over generations. Spanning mythology, history, anthropology, religion, and global cultures, these resources reveal how artists have drawn on shared symbols, traditions, and visual languages to construct new narratives.

Actor, writer, musician, and art collector Steve Martin has donated approximately 2,000 books on art history with particular strength in nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, including Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and contemporary art, and on individual artists such as David Hockney, Alexander Calder, Milton Avery, Winslow Homer, Roy Lichtenstein, Francis Bacon, Mary Cassatt, Helen Frankenthaler, and Cindy Sherman.

Together, these collections allow for in-depth study of how narrative art has extended across centuries, disciplines, and media.

The general research collection and reading room are open to all without charge. An additional two floors of special collections and archival material are available by appointment. The collection is non-circulating.

1,600 square feet
Ceiling height: 19’