biographies of people like banker Achille Levy and Senator Thomas Bard are all available. Furthermore, there are books that detail the raising and processing of sugar beets because the American Beet Sugar Company refinery was built in 1898 in Oxnard. The refinery helped develop the town, Oxnard. Additionally, the collection also hosts telephone and street directories since 1908. These can be used for genealogical research or identifying a particular business that is not open anymore. The Oxnard Public Library subscribes to The Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly. This means that the quarterly is available on the library's online catalog. The quarterly can also be viewed in the Special Collection Room in the Main Library. A photocopy machine is provided in the room if you want a copy of any article. You can also request a copy by contacting your local public library and loan the said article through an interlibrary loan. The library possesses The Oxnard Press-Courier on microfilm from January 1900 to June 1994, when it ended. From June 1994 and onwards, the library began microfilming the Ventura County Star. Some of the newspapers are available on the library’s online catalog, starting from 1900 to 1904 and 1954 to 1996. The Los Angeles Times is also on microfilm from 1972 to the present. Shades of California program The Oxnard Public Library is one of nine libraries in the state of California to have participated in a photo history project known as the "Shades of California" program. In 1998, Library guests and members of the surrounding communities were invited to bring in their own personal collections of family photos and albums. Volunteers were tasked with making selections in addition to gathering contextual information regarding the selected photographs. Digital versions of the archive are made available online by the library. Carnegie Library Shortly after the city of Oxnard incorporated in 1903, city leaders applied to philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for funds to build a local library. In 1906, Carnegie agreed to supply $10,000 to build the library; he later increased his donation to $12,000 after shortages in supplies and labor due to the San Francisco earthquake caused all bids for the Oxnard Library to come in significantly over budget. Local donations and city funds covered the rest of the cost of the land, building, furnishings, and books, which totaled, according to local press, $20,918.11. Architect Franklin Pierce Burnham of Los Angeles designed