International Languages Department
Located on Level One (L1) of the Central Library Tom Bradley Wing
Contact
Phone: 213-228-7125 | Email: language@lapl.org
Department Staff
- Tina Princenthal, Department Manager | 213-228-7009
- Vi Thục Hà, Senior Librarian | 213-228-7132
Materials & Collections
The International Languages Department is one of the largest and finest multi-language resource centers in a North American public library. Its collection is comprised of 260,000 books, audiobooks and DVDs, 250 magazines and newspapers in print and microform, 3,500 language learning CDs and DVDs, and 1,000 travel posters.
The core of the department's materials includes literature, poetry, drama, history, biography and fiction in 30 different languages.
The Language collection is current and historical in scope and is identified by a letter code as the first part of the call number:
| Language | Code | Language | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabic | Ar | Japanese | J |
| Armenian | A | Korean | K |
| Bengali | Be | Latvian | L |
| Chinese | Ch | Lithuanian | Li |
| Czech & Slovak | Cz | Norwegian | N |
| Danish | D | Persian | Pe |
| Dutch | Du | Pilipino | Pil |
| Finnish | Fi | Polish | Pol |
| French | F | Portuguese | Po |
| German | G | Russian | Ru |
| Greek | Gr | Serbian & Croatian | S-C |
| Hebrew | H | Spanish | S |
| Hindi | Hi | Swedish | Sw |
| Hungarian | Hu | Vietnamese | V |
| Italian | I | Yiddish | Y |
In addition, dictionaries, phrase books and easy readers are available in over 500 languages and dialects of the world.
Selected Resources
- Bilingual English-Spanish Material (PDF)
- Ethnic Information
- Linguistics
- Literary Criticism
- Multi-Language Magazines
- Reader's Advisory
- Requests for customized deposit collections of books in available languages can be made by LAPL branches.
Tours (Bilingual)
Bilingual Tours of the Central Library, which include a 30-minute architectural tour of the building and a bilingual orientation to the International Languages Department, can be arranged by calling the Docent Office at 213-228-7055. Please specify what language(s) is/are being requested.
Services
Reference inquiries can be made in person, by phone, or by email to the department. Mail requests can be directed to:
International Languages Department
Los Angeles Public Library
630 West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071