If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times—the book was better! There's nothing like debating the differences between a favorite book and its translation to the screen. But if you don't know your beloved series is coming out as a movie or that the fun-looking preview you saw was adapted from a book, how can you join the debate? The Library is here to the rescue! Here, we will be...
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What Back to School Looked Like in Vintage Los Angeles
It's the day lots of adults look forward to, and lots of kids dread. After a summer of fun, it's time to start setting that alarm again, shop for supplies, and go back to school!
Interview With an Author: Ruthanna Emrys
Ruthanna Emrys lives in a mysterious manor house in the outskirts of Washington DC with her wife and their large, strange family.
Amelia Earhart – Flying Through the Blue and Into History
Photo Friends, Thursday, July 19, 2018
While attending the 1907 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, ten-year-old Amelia Mary Earhart saw her first airplane. She was not impressed. She described it as “a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting” and asked her father, Edwin Earhart, to take her back to the merry-go-round.
D is for Disneyland!
July 17 is the 63 anniversary of Disneyland's opening day. This Disney loving librarian is planning on celebrating and won't be the only one either; it will probably be super crowded, and there will be lots of other pass holders eager to commemorate the day.
What a Day at the Beach Looked Like in Vintage Los Angeles
It's summertime in Los Angeles and the mercury is rising. Are you beach ready? Have you packed your sunscreen, hats, coolers, snacks, umbrellas, folding chairs, kites, frisbees, bikes, trikes, boogie boards and blankets? Do you know how you'll get there?
![A close-up shot is lined up by the director and cameraman during a Maverick shoot on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, [1961]. Valley Times Collection](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/whats_on_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-10/backyardheader.jpg?itok=DzfYneHe "A close-up shot is lined up by the director and cameraman during a Maverick shoot on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, [1961]. Valley Times Collection")
The Industry In Our Backyard
In January 1947, KTLA Channel 5, Los Angeles's first commercial television station, aired its first broadcast, and the Herald Express newspaper was there to report the milestone event.
Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Dr. Kathryn Harkup is a chemist and author. Kathryn completed a Ph.D. then a postdoc at the University of York before realizing that talking, writing and demonstrating science appealed far more than spending hours slaving over a hot fume-hood.
Pride in the Name of Comics
The world of comics has long been filled with stories written by young men, for young men, featuring men throwing punches in a never-ending fight for justice, revenge, etc. But times have changed.
Interview With an Author: Ian McDonald
Ian McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester, England, to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. He moved with his family to Northern Ireland in 1965. He has won the Locus Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
The King of (Drag) Queens: The “Fascinating” Julian Eltinge
Long before Divine, Charles Pierce, Craig Russell, Jim Bailey, or any contestant on ‘Drag Race’ brought the art of drag performance to mainstream audiences, there was Julian Eltinge. Although remembered (mostly) by historians of queer history, he has been largely forgotten by the mainstream public.