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Are you using Zoom to communicate with colleagues, family, and friends while staying safe at home? Here's a gallery of library photos you can display as virtual backgrounds during your next meeting.
While it's true that information on the 2.8 million items in the Central Library is on computer servers that take up a tiny space compared to the hundreds of drawers of catalog cards once used, one can still view some of our collections the old-fashioned way, complete with Dewey decimal number, title, auth
I have always loved books. When I was five, I pleaded with my mother for books...Little Golden Books, about lambs and engines and whatever...and she helped me learn to read them. In junior high and high school, I was a library helper.
“Habit is persistence in practice.”—Octavia E. Butler
It was a typical day in my 11th grade English class, except my teacher offered a rare extra credit opportunity—to write a 100-word essay on the topic, "What a Library Means to Me." She explained that our essays would be submitted to the "Save the Books" essay contest, part of an effort to raise funds for t
October 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of the LA Central Library reopening seven years after a catastrophic fire in 1986. In this short film, three people who were at the fire share their memories of the fire and the effort to recover and rebuild.
A month after the first of two fires burned through the Central Library in 1986, a collective effort by the City of Los Angeles raised $3.2 million. This was yet another plus in a major reconstructive campaign lasting 7 and a half years.
When the gleaming “new” Central Library opened its doors on October 3, 1993, seven years after the devastating fires of 1986, it touted the latest innovations in computer automation.
In retrospect, it is ironic that the fire took place when it did: April 29, 1986. On that day, progress was quietly continuing with plans for a renovation of the original Central Library and a new multi-level addition.
"Never give up. Keep your thoughts and your mind always on the goal."—Tom Bradley


![Volunteers clean and check the books against the card catalog to note “survivors” of the fire. Throughout the recovery process, the media showed constant interest in the progress. [Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection] Boxing of damaged books](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-10/docentheader.jpg?itok=vOoLb8FA)


![Firefighters ascend truck 3's ladder to the roof of Central Library, [April,1986]. Photo courtesy of Rick Santos firefighters climbing ladder with equipment](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-10/firevideoblogheader.jpg?itok=ocwAuidE)


![Jubilant participants during the 1987 Save the Books telethon. $2 million dollars in pledges were made during the 48 hours, but around half that amount was actually collected. [Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection] Jubilant participants during the 1987 Save the Books telethon.](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-10/save25header.jpg?itok=4tfyrxJu)
![Tom Bradley on an escalator at the opening of the Red Line subway downtown Los Angeles, [1993]. Gary Leonard Collection Tom Bradley on an escalator at the opening of the Red Line subway downtown, 1-30-93.](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-11/tombradleyheader.jpg?itok=O3PKLIEf)