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Central Library

Central Library Exterior
Address:
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Phone:
213-228-7000
Email:
Contact form
Librarian:
Kren Malone, Director

Hours of Service

Mon: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Tues: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Weds: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Thurs: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Fri: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sat: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sun: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Upcoming Events at Central Library
Ceiling of the Central Library Rotunda.
Sundays at 2 p.m.
Take an hour-long tour through the Los Angeles Central Library. Your docent guide will share stories about the history, art, and...

bread and roses film poster
February 22, 2026 2:00 PM
LA Made in collaboration with El Cine presents a screening of Bread and Roses (2000), directed by Ken Loach, a powerful portrait of labor,...

globe chandelier located in the Central Library rotunda
Sundays at 3 p.m.
Take an hour-long tour through the Los Angeles Central Library. Your docent guide will share stories about the history, art, and...

Mondays from 1 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
Speak English with confidence! Adults will use common words and expressions while working on pronunciation. This class focuses on informal...

collaged artwork with the text "collage jam" overlayed.
Mondays from 4 - 5:30 p.m.
Come create collage art and listen to music together. We’ll have lots of cool stuff to cut up for your collages including magazines, comics...

Dice, checkers, and other pieces to a variety of games strewn across a chess board.
Mondays, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
Children ages 5-11 and their families are invited to drop in and play board games, such as Checkers, Jenga, and Sorry. Boards and pieces...

a game of chess being played by two players on a wooden table
Mondays 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Join us for a casual game of chess, all ages and skill levels welcome. Boards and pieces provided. No registration needed.

An instructor and a student review a workbook.
Tuesdays at 11 a. m.
Walk-in Tutors assist adult patrons with reading, writing, English conversation, basic technology assistance, job applications, and...

a young African-American man smiling sitting on a couch, looking down at a laptop that's on a small table, with headphones on
Tuesdays from 12 noon - 1 p.m.
Did you know that the Los Angeles Public Library lends e-books, audiobooks, movies, music, magazines, newspapers, comic books, and more to...

Image of a seated woman in a red sweater at a table helping a standing man with paperwork.
Last Tuesday of the month from 12:30 - 3 p.m.
A convenient one-stop-shop of services and resources for community members experiencing homelessness, life instability, or who are low-...



What We're Reading


Recent Blog Posts from LAPL Blog
February 20, 2026
By Tina Lernø, Librarian
Do you own a hat? Other than a baseball cap? How would you feel about wearing a hat... every day? Well, if you were around in the 1920s, you would have been intimately familiar with hat-wearing, hat-... Continued
February 19, 2026
By Daryl M., Librarian
Ryan Douglass is a queer author and poet from Atlanta, Georgia. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston, and his short fiction appears in All These Sunken Souls... Continued
February 17, 2026
By Eileen Ybarra, Librarian III
Looking for a simple way to stay informed without juggling dozens of individual subscriptions? Your Los Angeles Public Library can help! PressReader is a premier digital platform offering over 7,000... Continued
February 13, 2026
By Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian
Known as "the Jewel of Central Avenue," the Dunbar Hotel holds a special place in Los Angeles history as the first hotel built expressly by and for Black people. While the hotel is most famous for... Continued

Meeting Rooms

The Literature & Fiction (Upper Level 3) and Business Department (Lower Level 1) have glass-enclosed meeting rooms available for use.

Guidelines

  • Meeting Room hours
    Monday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.
    Friday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
    Sunday: 1 - 4:30 p.m.
  • Sign ups on the hour or half hour
  • Must have a valid library card
  • Reservations must be made in person, day of and up to one day in advance
  • Two hours per floor per patron
  • Water allowed. No food or drink
  • Three or more people required for large (6 chair) rooms
  • Furniture and chairs must not be moved
  • Dry erase markers and erasers available upon request
  • All library rules apply: Patrons in violation of library rules may be refused service.

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