Art in public spaces can serve as a means of shared identity, of connecting residents and visitors to the community, and creating a sense of ownership and respect in a shared space; to spark…
In May, we celebrate one of the fastest-growing racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month pays tribute to the generations of Asians and Pacific Islanders who…
From a small town in West Central Texas came the stuff of legends—kings, warriors, evil sorcery, and monsters. Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) wrote hundreds of short stories published in the pulp…
Continuing our celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we highlight the importance of paying tribute and recognizing the history and the contributions Asian Americans and Pacific…
Kim Michele Richardson is a native-born Kentuckian who resides in Kentucky. Her works include The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Liar’s Bench, GodPretty in the Tobacco Field, and The Sisters of…
On May 26th, 1926, Miles Davis was born. He would revolutionize jazz several times over as a trumpeter, composer, and bandleader. As he famously said, “I have to change, it’s like a curse.” Miles’…
Jews rock! You know it even if you don’t know it. Among the contributions of Jewish thinkers, artists and doers to every area of human endeavor is the vastly underappreciated role of Jews in rock &…
I was a curious and strongly opinionated tween girl growing up in the 90s and the books I treasured centered around characters of the same mind: Kristy in The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin…
Veronica G. Henry was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has been a bit of a rolling stone ever since. She is a graduate of the Viable Paradise Workshop, a member of SFWA, and an Author Spotlight…
Julius Levitt (1885–1952) was a promoter of Yiddish culture and a community activist, most importantly through the Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) to bring attention to the horrors of Nazism throughout…
President Joseph Biden may have put it best in his 2021 proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month: “The Jewish American experience is a story of faith, fortitude, and progress. It is a…
Here at the library, we closely follow stories of books being banned or challenged throughout the country. It is the mission of the Los Angeles Public Library to provide free and easy access to…
I dislike the question “how do you like retirement?” I mean, this is like asking “how do you like breathing?” Life is a one-way street and there are no U-turns on the way toward the great unknown. So…
Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a Chinese-American writer. She holds an MFA from the University of Wyoming and has received support from Kundiman, Tin House, and VONA/Voices. She was born in Changchun, China…
By the late nineteenth century, the West Coast of the United States was home to thriving Japanese communities. After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred the immigration of Chinese workers…
Alma Katsu is the award-winning author of six novels, most recently Red Widow, The Deep, and The Hunger. She is a graduate of the master's writing program at Johns Hopkins University and received her…
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…
Hello! We are the Teens Leading Change (TLC) group of the Silver Lake and Echo Park Branch Libraries. Our project has a general goal of learning about the housing crisis in Los Angeles, and more…
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. It was officially declared on April 20, 2006. The month of May was chosen due to the highly successful celebration of the 350th Anniversary of American Jewish…
Son of a mechanic and a librarian, Gary Philips has published various novels, comics, novellas, and short stories, worked in TV and edited or co-edited several anthologies including the Anthony…
It began with a man and a suitcase of poetry. Hiram Sims, professor and poet, started this journey by loaning books of poems to his students at the Community Literature Initiative’s (CLI) Poetry…
Peter Swanson is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel…
California Nouns: People, Places, and Things Beaches & Oceans The state of California has one of the longest coastlines in the entire United States (at either 840 or 3,427 miles, depending on which…
A little over a month ago the prospect of Major League Baseball’s opening day arriving on time looked bleak at best and the possibility of a long work stoppage loomed. Thankfully, everyone came to…
