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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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.
Coming to America: Miri Koral's Immigrant Story and the Role of Yiddish in Her Life
Miri Koral is the Founding Director of the California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language and a native speaker of Yiddish. She will be facilitating the book discussions for the Yiddish Book Center's "Coming to America" Reading Groups for Public Libraries, starting in February.
Interview With an Author: Chris McCormick
Chris McCormick is the author of a collection of stories, Desert Boys, winner of the 2017 Stonewall Book Award.
Kobe's Bookshelf
Kobe Bryant’s post-basketball life was dedicated to inspiring young people through storytelling.
Helping Everyone to Help Themselves - Andrew Carnegie and Libraries
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835 and immigrated to the United States in 1848. Landing in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, 13-year-old Andrew Carnegie started working as a bobbin boy, changing spools of thread in a cotton mill. He worked twelve hours a day, six days a week.
Think You Know All About Lasagna?
Why am I writing about lasagna? Its origins became a topic for discussion among my brothers and I—and I wanted answers.
Interview With an Author: Tochi Onyebuchi
Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of the young adult novel Beasts Made of Night, which won the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African, its sequel,




![Gina Hemphill, granddaughter of famed Olympian Jesse Owens, carries the torch into the Coliseum for the opening ceremonies on July 28, [1984]. Photo credit: Anne Knudsen, Los Angeles Herald Examiner Collection Gina Hemphill running with the olympic torch](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/whats_on_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-11/1984olympicheader.jpg?itok=SMPVIDA7)




![Sheila Madison puts an additional sprinkling of Parmesan on her authentic Italian Lasagne before putting it into the oven for baking, [1965]. Photo credit: George Brich, Valley Times Collection Women sprinkles cheese on lasagna](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/whats_on_list_120x90/public/blogs/2024-02/lasagnaheader.jpg?itok=nlkEB0fw)
