History of the Vernon Branch Library

In 1901, a library delivery station was established and maintained by neighborhood residents in a rented facility on Vernon Avenue near Central Avenue. By 1906, with two paid attendants, the circulation had reached 20,222. In 1915, the Vernon Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library was built for $35,000, funded by the Carnegie Foundation of New York City. At the time it began operating, the only commercial establishment in the area was a bakery. The Vernon Branch was the third of six Carnegie buildings to be built out of a $210,000 grant received by the City of Los Angeles in 1911.

Exterior view of the Vernon Branch Library, 4504 South Central Avenue, which was built in 1915.

Designed by architects Charles H. Kysor & Charles H. Biggar, it is an example of the Classical Revival (Type A) style. Its special feature was an open-air reading room that could be converted into a closed room by means of a sliding sash. The Vernon Branch opened to the public in its newly built Carnegie library on September 30, 1915. At one time, so many Jewish immigrants used the library that directional and informational signs in the building were written in Yiddish. By 1933, branch circulation had soared to 124,878, with meeting room use averaging 363 times per year. This building at 4504 S. Central Avenue served the public for 56 years, surviving the 1933 Long Beach earthquake that devastated many buildings in Los Angeles.

One of the unique features of the Vernon Branch was the establishment of the Black History Collection under the tenure of Miriam Matthews, branch librarian from 1934 to 1944. Recognized as an important asset to the community, this outstanding collection of black history and literature has grown through the years with each succeeding branch administration. In 1971, it was named for Dorothy Vena Johnson, a native Angeleno who taught in the Los Angeles City Schools for over 40 years and served as Principal of Garden Gate High School when she retired in 1963. 

Vernon Branch Library, temporary location of 4515 South Central Avenue. 

On February 9, 1971, the Carnegie building was closed due to severe earthquake damage. Bookmobile service was provided twice a week from April 9, 1971, to September 18, 1972, until the Vernon Branch acquired a spacious rented building at 4515 South Central Avenue. The damage to the Carnegie building was extensive enough that it had to be demolished in 1974. The Los Angeles Public Library received federal disaster funds to rebuild an attractive, modern branch at its original location, which was opened on September 2, 1975. The branch reopened under the name Vernon - Leon H. Washington Jr. The Memorial Branch was named after the Los Angeles Sentinel founder and civil rights activist Leon Washington, who died on June 17, 1974.

Although the demographics of the neighborhood have changed over the years from Caucasian to African-American to Hispanic, the Vernon Branch continues to fulfill its mission to enrich, empower, and inform all its patrons. The commitment to continue serving the community to the fullest was reaffirmed most recently when the branch was remodeled in 2005, with 30 computers, and when wireless computer service was added in 2007.