California Thoroughbred Foundation donating library to Cal Poly Pomona

The California Thoroughbred Foundation is donating the periodicals of the Carleton F. Burke Library – currently housed at the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association offices in Arcadia – to Cal Poly Pomona, the CTF announced in a recent press release.

The contents of the library are among the most extensive collections of equine literature found anywhere. For years, racing fans and researchers accessed its contents at the CTBA offices, located across the street from Santa Anita.

Cal Poly Pomona intends to digitize the material, which will make the library far more accessible to modern audiences. The campus is located only 20 miles from Santa Anita, so the physical material will remain in the area.

“This is such a rare and specialized collection that it is a great match with an academic library,” CTF president Ada Gates Patton said in the release. “Officials from Cal Poly Pomona approached us about acquiring the library, with proposed expert management of books and increased public access.

“The foundation does not have resources like those at Cal Poly. In addition, with more and more material available on the Internet, in-person use of the library decreased in recent years, followed by a two-year closure because of the pandemic. So after studying the proposal carefully, our board voted for the donation. This will benefit anyone interested in publications about horses, whether for serious study or just pleasure reading.

“We have been privileged to own this unique collection and open it to the public, and we look forward to its professional preservation and even wider availability at Cal Poly Pomona,” Gates Patton said.

“The Burke Library has long been an important resource for many in the horse world,” CTBA president Doug Burge said. “The CTBA has been proud to have the library on our premises, but we understand that its care and accessibility will be greatly enhanced at Cal Poly Pomona.”

Burke was the first chairman of the California Horse Racing Board, director of racing at Santa Anita, and a secretary-treasurer of the CTBA. He died in 1962, and the following year the library was named for him.