While it's true that information on the 2.8 million items in the Central Library is on computer servers that take up a tiny space compared to the hundreds of drawers of catalog cards once used, one…
kuwa jasiri (first name) Indomela, pronoun the one, is a seed steward, wordsmith, and spiritual tender. This one engages in international writing and speaking opportunities that affirm People Of…
Not often does a TV series begin with a shot of a library. In this case, the series in question began with a shot of the Benjamin Franklin Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Be still my heart…
No es común que una serie de televisión comience con la imagen de una biblioteca. En este caso, la serie en cuestión empieza con la imagen de la Biblioteca Benjamín Franklin, una sucursal de la…
Luke Geddes is originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, and now lives Cincinnati, Ohio. He holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati. He is the author…
“I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”—Jackie RobinsonMany of us know about the phenomenal Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson. He was a…
Before Barack Obama, Hiram Revels and Shirley Chisholm helped govern the nation. William Wells Brown wrote a novel before Toni Morrison. Phillis Wheatley published poems before Langston Hughes. And…
If you live anywhere near Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, you have heard them. If you live in Eagle Rock or the Silverlake/Echo Park regions, you will recognize the sound. Twice a day, dawn and…
Novelist and essayist Eve Babitz grew up in Hollywood. Her work focuses on essay memoirs centered in Los Angeles, particularly in the sixties and early seventies. Since the NYRB classics reissued…
Ryan La Sala grew up in Connecticut, but only physically. Mentally, he spent most of his childhood in the worlds of Sailor Moon and Xena: Warrior Princess, which perhaps explains all the twirling. He…
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…
In recent days, the literary world has been rocked by controversy. At its heart, the controversy involves a book that is, on the one hand, a commercially successful book, currently, 400+ on the…
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…
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…
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…
Chris McCormick is the author of a collection of stories, Desert Boys, winner of the 2017 Stonewall Book Award. Born in 1987 and raised on the California side of the Mojave Desert, he is a graduate of…
Kobe Bryant’s post-basketball life was dedicated to inspiring young people through storytelling. He told the Washington Post that in fifty years he hoped to be remembered, “as a person that was able…
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…
Why am I writing about lasagna? Its origins became a topic for discussion among my brothers and I—and I wanted answers. I wanted to know how this one particular Italian dish, normally served during…
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, Crown of Thunder, and War…
Meet Esther Pearl Watson, a Los Angeles based artist, illustrator, children’s book author and zine maker. Esther and her partner, Mark Todd, published a book on zines called, Whatcha Mean, What’s a…
For 35 years, the Adult Literacy program at the Los Angeles Public Library has helped adults all over Los Angeles improve their reading and writing skills. Today we're sharing two testimonials about…
Nipsey Hussle was a rapper, entrepreneur, and community activist from Los Angeles. In March of 2019, Hussle was fatally shot outside his store Marathon Clothing. An article in the L.A. Times…
Happy New Year, Happy Rose Bowl, Happy Football! Did you know that the Rose Bowl Stadium is nearing its 100th year? The story of the Rose Parade and the subsequent football games have been going on…
