The International Languages Department | Los Angeles Public Library

Located on Level One (L1) of the Tom Bradley Wing: Department Map

Phone: 213-228-7125 | Fax: 213-228-7129 | E-mail (form)

Department Staff

Tina Princenthal, Department Manager | 213-228-7009
Vi Ha, 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 fax to the department. Mail requests can be directed to:

International Languages Department
Los Angeles Public Library
630 West 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071

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Department Staff

Materials & Collections

Selected Resources

Tours (Bilingual)

Services

Subject Departments