Pomona College is an elite liberal arts college in Claremont, California, and a founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium. Incorporated on October 14, 1887, by Congregationalists aiming to recreate a New England-style college in Southern California, instruction began in 1888 in a rented house in the city of Pomona. One of the most selective colleges in the United States, it is governed as a private nonprofit by a board of trustees. The college shares the Claremont Colleges Library (Honnold/Mudd Library), which holds over 3.4 million items (1 million physical, 2.3 million digital) as of 2023. The consortium, whose central coordinating body was split from Claremont Graduate University in July 2000 and incorporated independently as Claremont University Consortium, also owns the Robert J. Bernard Field Station.