BANKING / FINANCE

Richard V. Rupp’s habit of picking up trade publications and other reference materials in the insurance field has led to another new business--an insurance library.

Rupp decided recently to get out of his risk management consulting business in Costa Mesa to become a full-time employee of Earthquake Mutual Insurance Co., which he formed a year ago to provide low-priced earthquake insurance coverage.

But he had to do something with the 1,200-square-foot library he had built up over the years. So he formed Rupp Risk Management Resource Center, which will operate under the direction of his wife, Coleen A. Mulhern.

The library contains about 90 trade journals, 900 reference books, 26 principal insurance subject categories with more than 2,500 specific subject files, special reports and access to a computer information retrieval system.

The library, which Rupp believes is the West Coast’s largest library devoted to insurance matters, will handle research for insurers, large corporations, accountants, lawyers and other risk management consultants.

Rupp hopes to attract professionals to the library with annual subscriber fees of $600.