USC's set of Los Angeles city directories cover the years between 1886 and 1953, except for the following years: 1889, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1919, 1943-48, 1950-52. Most of the volumes are fragile and enclosed in phase boxes for protection. The first 20 boxes include one year of each year that is included in the collection; the last 7 boxes are duplicate volumes.