Athletic Foundation Buys Sports Library

The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, the successor to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, has announced that it has purchased the San Jose-based National Library of Sports and will move its 250,000 items to its own sports library in South-Central Los Angeles.

No purchase price was disclosed. But David L. Wolper, chairman of the foundation board of directors, said the acquisition will make the group’s Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center Library at 2141 W. Adams Blvd. the largest sports library in the nation.

Some of the items purchased include books dating to the 19th Century, professional and collegiate basketball media guides and game programs, books and magazines on outdoor sports such as hunting and fishing, and items on horse racing and bullfighting. There is also an index of 175,000 sports personalities, facilities and events with 1.5 million references to a news clipping file.

The Ziffren Center Library is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on alternating Saturdays.