Western States Black Research and Educational Center

Our Vision

The time has come for an African American research center and a repository for African American history and culture on the West Coast. Today the majority of the history and cultural heritage of Americans of African descent lays dormant and endangered in boxes and attics throughout the United States.

With the Mayme Agnew Clayton Collection of African American History & Culture at its core the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum will serve to collect, analyze, research and organize exhibitions on a scale and definition comparable to those of major libraries, museums, and cultural centers devoted to other aspects of American life.

A Vision of the Facade

Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum

Architect, Damon Bass, A.I.A. with the Kennard Design Group based in Los Angeles has given us an exciting glimpse of what the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum can look like.

MCLM with a distinctive facade that generates attention on Overland Avenue. Clerestory windows add natural light in the Great Exhibition Hall and the Public Library.

The 9’ x 5’ shadow boxes along Overland Avenue will feature videos, items from the collection as well as MCLM programming information

Looking Toward the Future

After we have established the collection and programs, MCLM plans to add a new 75,000 sq ft edifice in multiple floors adjacent to its existing structure (pictured below). The existing facility is 23,470 sq ft and located at 4130 Overland Avenue, Culver City, California 90230

The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum (MCLM) will serve as the first African American research center and repository for African American culture and history on the West Coast. MCLM's goal is to provide environmentally controlled safe haven for endangered collections. As such, we fully expect that we will soon outgrow the 23,470 sq ft facility pictured above. Our goal is to create the Mayme A. Clayton Library as a world-class center featuring close to 100,000 sq ft. Such an institution in the heart of the world's media capital will stand as a shining institutional symbol of the intelligence, creativity and nobility of the African American community. In the future we plan to use the existing facility as the repository and research center, only. On our Overland Avenue site we will add approximately 75,000 additional square feet (vertically). The 75,000 sq ft facility will contain the features described below.

The new structure will feature the following:

500-seat Theatre

Full-service commercial kitchen with an Executive Dining Room & Restaurant

Coffee/Salad/Soup/Sandwich Shop

Gift Shop & Bookstore

Genealogy Workshop and DNA Analysis Lab

Administrative Offices

Conference Rooms

Non-Circulating Public Library with a Children’s Learning Center

State-of-the-art Broadcast & Distance Learning Center

Classrooms

State-of-the-art Presentation Center

Research Institute & Think Tank

The Rare Book, Photograph & Memorabilia Collection

Reading Rooms and Research Cubicles

Art Exhibition Great Hall

Photography Gallery

Sheet Music & Record Library with listening stations and research facilities

Retail Music & CD Store

Computerized Sports Center (based on the model of the Museum of Television & Radio, Beverly Hills, CA)

Art Studio

Meditation Center

Seminar/Conference Room

Community Meeting Spaces (various sizes)

Beauty, world-class amenities, academic excellence and a welcoming atmosphere will be the hallmarks of the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum.