The Library will be closed on Thursday, November 28 & Friday, November 29, 2024, in observance of Thanksgiving.

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Author Emily C. Hughes and her first book, Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch
Photo of author: Oliver Scott Photography
Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, November 21, 2024

Emily C. Hughes (she/her) wants to scare you. Formerly the editor of Unbound Worlds and TorNightfire.com, she writes about horror and curates a list of the year's new scary books. You can find her writing elsewhere in the...

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Los Angeles Street Names: The Past Coinciding with the Present

Christina Rice, Senior Librarian, Photo Collection, Tuesday, September 20, 2016

In a city as a diverse as Los Angeles, there is one thing we almost all have in common - traffic. While stuck at intersections or on freeways, pondering the heritage of our fair city is probably not on the forefront of everyone's minds.


Celebrate Latino Heritage Month

Latinos at War: The Fight Abroad and at Home in the United States

Llyr Heller, Librarian, Teen'Scape, Monday, September 19, 2016

September marks Latino heritage month. As of 2015 Latinos make up 17.4% of the population in the United States. Historians estimate that around 250,000 to 500,000 out of a total 2.7 million Latinos in the United States served in World War II.


UN World Peace Bell

World Peace Bell Rings Out Message for Peace

Central Docents, Central Library, Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Most visitors to the Central Library’s Maguire Gardens see Jud Fine's “Spine” installation and the unique collection of fountains that grace the gardens, but not everyone notices tucked away in the westernmost corner, nearest Flower Street, a quiet token of the most ambitious possibility, the World Peace B


Buddhist monks

Karma: The Good, the Bad and the Creative

Social Science, Philosophy and Religion Department, Central Library, Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Several months ago, while driving home during rush hour on a Friday night, my fiancée and I noticed a young teenager lying unconscious on the side of a busy street. We pulled over and called 911 to hopefully provide some help for him.


Tia Chucha's Cultural Center & Bookstore's mural depicting the tree of life, the masculine/feminine generating principles of the world, and the wholeness of self, community, earth, and spirit.

From an Indigenous Mind—The Four Key Connections

Luis J. Rodriguez, Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Thursday, August 18, 2016

First, a number of greetings in the language of a few native peoples on this continent:


Detail of owl sculpture for the balconies of central library

Lee Lawrie's Wise Owls Decorate the Library

Central Docents, Central Library, Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The doors of wisdom are never shut.—Benjamin Franklin

The classic icon of wisdom, the owl, is found in several places around the original Bertram Goodhue Library building. These owls are not hidden, but they may not be obvious to the casual visitor.


Children dressed in the costumes of many different countries hold signs indicating the languages in which books are available at the Los Angeles Public Library, ca 1939

International L.A.

Teresa Mons, Librarian, Young Adult Services, Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Los Angeles has been a multi-cultural, polyglot city from the earliest times. In 1781, the pobladores, a small group of racially diverse farmers from Sonora, Mexico, arrived near the banks of the Porciuncula River at a place that would later become Los Angeles.


Groovy, complicated heraldic achievement

The Language of Heraldry

Julie Huffman, Librarian, History & Genealogy Department, Monday, August 8, 2016

I recently completed an online heraldry class conducted by the University of Strathclyde, and I learned a great deal that will be helpful to me as a genealogy librarian.


2016 motion picture releases from fear, suspense, horror genres from 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures

Monsters, Aliens and Ghosts, Oh My! (Or, the Psychology of Fear)

Social Science, Philosophy and Religion Department, Central Library, Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Summer, along with hot temperatures and family vacations, usually brings major blockbusters.


Hope street entrance

Mystery of the Hope Street Tunnel

Central Docents, Central Library, Friday, July 15, 2016

Did you know that when Central Library opened in 1926, the entrance at 530 South Hope Street was both the "front door" and mailing address? Patrons entered the gates at Hope Street and walked up a long sloping ramp to a circulation desk at the center of the lower level.


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