Chi-ming Yang, Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, specializes in histories of race, empire, and East-West cultural exchanges. Yang’s scholarship spans chinoiserie, cross-species…
"People have changed the climate of the world. Now they’re waiting for the old days to come back."—The Parable of the Sower Octavia E. Butler's dystopian science fiction classic, Parable of the Sower…
Images, Misinformation, and Sherlock Holmes: misinformation is designed to mislead, but with a couple of tools, you too can have the confidence of a fictional detective. Arthur Conan Doyle Portrait…
Octavia E. Butler was a science fiction author who had a very close connection to the Los Angeles Public Library and made an impact on our organization, community, and the world that will last forever…
Narratives attached to events in LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) history like the Stonewall riots and other uprisings often de-emphasize the work of transgender…
In celebration of Octavia E. Butler’s birthday this year, the Octavia Lab began making coloring pages to celebrate lesser-known heroes in California. As lab staff, we were deeply affected by the COVID…
As the month of June comes to an end, we are celebrating the first anniversary of the Octavia Lab and Octavia E. Butler’s birthday by taking a glimpse into her life as a teenager and a list of great…
This week we are exploring Octavia E. Butler’s childhood and some great science fiction books for children, as we continue to celebrate her birthday and the first anniversary of the Octavia Lab…
This month is not only the first anniversary of the Octavia Lab at the Central Library, a do-it-yourself studio space, but also Octavia E. Butler’s birthday on June 22. During this time we are…
Who was Octavia E. Butler? Octavia E. Butler was a science fiction author who had a very close connection to the Los Angeles Public Library and made an impact on our organization, community, and the…
Over this past month, the Octavia Lab has transformed itself from a hobbyist makerspace to a light manufacturing powerhouse to help produce PPE (personal protective equipment) face shields for the…
There’s a lot of news right now about 3D printing medical equipment. But what does it all mean, and what is 3D printing? 3D printing is the process of making an object by laying down successive layers…
Over the past month, the Octavia Lab, the do-it-yourself makerspace at Central Library, has transformed itself into a light manufacturing center making face shields for the local medical community…
When the library's Octavia Lab opened in June of 2019, it was envisioned as a collaborative work-space for creatives, makers, and hobbyists. Now, as COVID-19 has forced the closure of the library to…
