AAMLO has a unique non-circulating reference library, a jewel for researchers, students, and anyone interested in African American history. Its collection consists of approximately 16,000 volumes by or about African Americans. Among its many subjects are books on religion, the military, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, the Black Panther Party, Africa in relationship to the African-American experience, genealogy, and California history.​

A collection of children's books highlights award-winning titles. Patrons can access on-line databases or thumb through James de T. Abajian's Blacks in Selected Newspapers, Censuses and Other Sources.​

One recent acquisition is the new eight-volume set African American National Biography, containing over 4,000 entries written by distinguished scholars and edited by Henry Louis Gates. The reference library offers access to local and out of state newspapers, scholarly journals, and six computers with word processing and Internet access. 

AAMLO has an extensive video and DVD collection which can be viewed on-site. Library staff are available to assist with research questions, or browsing and enjoyment of the collection.

AAMLO also has a Seed Lending Library. Anyone is welcome to come in and check-out seeds. No library card is needed. We ask that you sign out for the seeds, then let some plants go to seed and return some of these next generation seeds for others to borrow.​

Available Computers For Patrons 

There are 7 computers in the library. Six patron computers, which includes one dedicated for scanning and one catalog computer. In addition the archives department has four computers dedicated to archival research.