I love taking tours through the old children’s room in the Central Library because it’s the only place in the building where one can stand close enough to the ceiling to see how artist Julian Garnsey…
In Part 1 of our post we looked at sculpture on the library’s exterior as it reflects an overall theme, The Light of Learning. Now we will move to the building’s interior and examine the symbolic…
Since I began leading docent tours eight years ago at the Los Angeles Central Library, some tour goers ask—is hidden Masonic symbolism contained in the art that decorates the library? Unwilling to get…
Most visitors to the Central Library’s Maguire Gardens see Jud Fine's “Spine” installation and the unique collection of fountains that grace the gardens, but not everyone notices tucked away in the…
The doors of wisdom are never shut.—Benjamin FranklinThe classic icon of wisdom, the owl, is found in several places around the original Bertram Goodhue Library building. These owls are not hidden…
Did you know that when Central Library opened in 1926, the entrance at 530 South Hope Street was both the "front door" and mailing address? Patrons entered the gates at Hope Street and walked up a…
In July of 1926, Angelenos eagerly awaited the opening of the Los Angeles Central Library's new building, the first permanent home for the fifty-year-old library. In 1923 and 1924, the Los Angeles…
This year, 2016, marks the 30th anniversary of the most catastrophic fire of a library building in the U.S. It occurred at our Central Library.Fire and library experts had been warning for years that…
If you've taken one of our free library tours, we've probably pointed out the quotation over the Flower Street entrance from Lucretius: “Like runners they bear on the lamp of life." Seems like an old…
Have you ever climbed the old marble staircase in our Central Library and, glancing up, spied a lit window cozily lined with books and plants? Or attended a Saturday puppet show in the Children's…
