As we spend the year commemorating the centennial of Central Library, it's also necessary to acknowledge a less celebratory, but still important milestone—the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Central Library Fire. The blaze, which ignited shortly before 11 a.m. on April 29, took over seven hours to extinguish and claimed roughly 400,000 books due to fire, smoke, or water damage. The tragic event...
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Librarians Billie Connor, Helene Mochedlover, and Katie Leidich sit across the street from Central Library during the Fire. Leo Jarzomb/Los Angeles Herald Examiner Collection
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Interview With an Author: Luke Geddes
Luke Geddes is originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, and now lives Cincinnati, Ohio. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati.
Dodger Legend: Jackie Robinson
Juliette Minton, Library Assistant, Digitization and Special Collections Department, Wednesday, February 26, 2020
“I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”—Jackie Robinson
African American History Makers
Before Barack Obama, Hiram Revels and Shirley Chisholm helped govern the nation. William Wells Brown wrote a novel before Toni Morrison. Phillis Wheatley published poems before Langston Hughes. And Oscar Micheaux made films before Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay.
A Pandemonium of Parrots
If you live anywhere near Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, you have heard them. If you live in Eagle Rock or the Silverlake/Echo Park regions, you will recognize the sound. Twice a day, dawn and dusk, no days off for weekends or holidays. Parrots!
Eve Babitz and the Hollywood Library
Novelist and essayist Eve Babitz grew up in Hollywood. Her work focuses on essay memoirs centered in Los Angeles, particularly in the sixties and early seventies.
Interview With an Author: Ryan La Sala
Ryan La Sala grew up in Connecticut, but only physically.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day With Steamy Romance Cover Art
One of the coolest things about working at the Central Library is getting to be around our amazing collection. We have amassed quite a few books since we opened our doors in 1926—the Fiction collection alone boasts over 375,000 titles!
Books From the Border
In recent days, the literary world has been rocked by controversy.
Interview With a Zine Maker: Valerie J. Bower
Valerie J. Bower is a Los Angeles based photographer. Valerie describes her work as dream-like, monochrome street photography that shows a softer, feminine point of view on typically masculine themes and subjects.
Going for the Gold: African Americans and the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
We have to wait until the summer of 2028 for Los Angeles to host the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, but when we do, we will join Paris and London as only the third city to host the Summer Games three times, having previously done so in 1932 and famously, in 1984.