Since its founding in 1979, the mission of California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA) is to collect and preserve documents and personal histories that illuminate the development of social issues and problems in the field of health, social work and social welfare in California, as well as the answers that have emerged to cope with such problems.

As the only collecting institution focused solely on the art, craft, and history of Hollywood writers and their labor union, the Writers Guild Foundation Library & Archive are vividlly relevant to the creative and business communities of Los Angeles. The holdings document a rich facet of Los Angeles culture in relation to the role of writers in the entertainment industry.