The library will be closed on Monday, May 29 in observance of Memorial Day.

Vi Ha, Senior Librarian, International Languages Department

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Julius Levitt is pictured on this coloring page in front of Breed Street Shul

Julius Levitt, Community Activist

May 17, 2022

Julius Levitt (1885–1953) was a promoter of Yiddish culture and a community activist, most importantly through the Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) to bring attention to the horrors of Nazism throughout the world.


Norma Merrick Sklarek in front of the big blue whale

African American History Month Coloring Pages

February 15, 2022

In order to showcase the technology available in the Octavia Lab, celebrate the diversity of Los Angeles, and demonstrate how library resources, such as Tessa, the library's online digital archive, and historical newspaper databases, can be used towards social justice, Octavia Lab staff have been creating


You Chung Hong and the gateway to LA Chinatown

Y.C. Hong - A Biography

February 01, 2022

You Chung (“Y.C.”) Hong (1898–1977) was a community booster, social activist, and immigration lawyer based in Chinatown in Los Angeles and is profiled as a part of Archives Alive: Stories and Voices from L.A.


The holiday tree in the Central Library Rotunda

Ornament Making in the Octavia Lab

December 03, 2019

Each December we face a design challenge of decorating a 15-foot noble fir tree in the Central Library’s rotunda.


close up to the gumball machine in the octavia lab

Turn the Knob: Find Inspiration

June 10, 2019

Looking for Inspiration for a project? Need a good fortune to help you out on a bad day?


drawing of Octavia Butler

On Persistence: Octavia E. Butler & Central Library

June 11, 2019

“Habit is persistence in practice.”—Octavia E. Butler


sunrise graphic with book

Teen Love for the Central Library

April 05, 2018

There is a strong cadre of teenagers that love the Central Library. Teens get the same wow factor of seeing the building and also thinking about how this space is built to store and share knowledge, learning, and books.


Roger Arst's photography class, Birmingham High School, 2002

Helping Students Succeed

February 13, 2017

Much has been studied on mindset and how depending upon how one chooses to experience life, one can change how successful one can be.


Chinatown in the seventies.

Textiles

December 04, 2015

My parents worked in the garment industry. My father started out doing bespoke suits in the 1970s and had to constantly reinvent his career as the clothing tastes changed.


Surfer Beetle

World Water Day, Innovation, and Southern California

March 31, 2015

World Water Day was celebrated this past March 22. It is a day created in 1993 by the UN to bring light the importance of water to life among people. This year’s celebration was dedicated to Water and Sustainable Development.


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