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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Why Children Should Not be Treated as Adults for Crimes
Walk with the young, America;
be young, again, America,
among the defiant and awake,
solid in their dreams.
Be the revolution in the marrow
where passions, ideals, fervors,
purpose and courage,
are not just qualities
people had in history books,
Celebrating Women's History Month With the Canoga Rockettes
The post-War era brought exponential growth to the San Fernando Valley, transforming the region into the quintessential suburbs.
An Unusual Resource for African American Genealogy
Insurance companies have long provided policies to cover losses of property but, before the end of the Civil War, this also included pay-outs for injury and death of the formerly enslaved.
From Maya Angelou to Tupac Shakur: Spotlight on African-American Poets
Among the many treasures in the Literature & Fiction department is our poetry collection, which clocks in at around 20,000 titles. Since February is African-American Heritage Month, what better time to spotlight a few of these fabulous poets?
Hidden Spaces and Forgotten Places in the Library
Have you ever climbed the old marble staircase in our Central Library and, glancing up, spied a lit window cozily lined with books and plants?
Central Avenue: Dunbar Hotel
As a salute to African American Heritage Month we present a brief glance at the epicenter of Central Avenue in the once glamorous and glorious Dunbar Hotel.
Sculptor Jud Fine Reflects on the Maguire Gardens’ SPINE
The incised metal steps that lead from Flower Street to the Central Library are part of an “art plan integrated with an architectural plan” now known as “Spine,” and the highlight of The Maguire Gardens. It is “not an installation or a sole art project,” says primary artist, Jud Fine.
Teen’Scape Revisited: YA Library after Nearly Two Decades
When you take our free docent-led art and architecture tours of the Los Angeles Central Library, we always point out Teen’Scape, one of the nation’s first libraries within a library designed by and exclusively for teens. Architect Robert Coffee created the unique space, which opened in 1998.
Teen’Scape: The Origin Story
When you take our free docent-led art and architecture tours of the Los Angeles Central Library, we always point out Teen’Scape, one of the nation’s first libraries within a library designed by and exclusively for teens.
A Powerful Genealogical Resource: City Directories
These annual precursors-to-telephone directories display a person’s home address, but also often a spouse name, occupation, and work address. And since they were largely published every year, they can be powerful tools used to find where your ancestors lived and worked between the decennial U.S.