The Shaw Historical Library was founded in 1983 by Laurence L. and Dorothy Shaw. It was the intention of the Shaws to establish a library to provide students, researchers, and the interested public with a place to learn about the people and history of the area known as the Land of Lakes. The Land of Lakes is generally considered to encompass south central and southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, and northwestern Nevada.
The collections of the Shaw Historical Library were started with the donation of Laurence Shaw's own collection which had been gathered over forty years. In his own words it was a collection "grown from reading. Each interesting book led to another until there was total immersion in Western Americana." Since the initial donation in 1983, the collections of the Shaw Historical Library have grown, primarily thorough donations, to include approximately 3,000 books, as well as maps, art, manuscripts, photographs, and taped interviews.
The library contains materials relating to American western migration and the history of the Klamath Basin. There are also significant collections on railroad, logging, and Native American History. The library's manuscript collections focus on the logging, lumber industry, and agriculture in the Klamath Basin.
