Central Library will be closed Friday, November 1.

Digitization & Special Collections

Located on Level Three (L3) of the Goodhue Building  |  phone: 213-228-7350

 Online Appointment Form

For general queries please contact specialcollections@lapl.org

Hours of Operation

The Special Collections Reading Room is available by appointment between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m, Monday-Friday.

Please note that materials are not available for check-out.


To Make an Appointment

Please fill out the Online Appointment Form. A staff member will contact you within 24 hours, Monday-Friday. We do not accommodate same-day appointments. Virtual appointments (1 hour max.) and weekend appointments are available for patrons unable to visit the library during regular hours.

Department Staff

  • Ani Boyadjian, Department Manager, Research & Special Collections | 213-228-7223
  • Angi Brzycki, Senior Librarian, Digitization & Special Collections | 213-228-7357

Materials & Collections

The two largest special collections of the Los Angeles Public Library are the Photo and Map Collection. The map collection is located in the History Department and contains more than 225,000 physical items, including local, national and international cartography.

The Digitization & Special Collections Department manages Los Angeles Public Library’s rare books, archives, and many of the library’s digital collections viewed on LAPL's digital collections, TESSA. Reproductions and reuse requests can be made by visiting tessa.lapl.org.The Los Angeles Public Library finding aids are available here: Online Archive of California.

The Special Collections Reading Room holds rare and archival materials on a wide variety of subjects, with a focus on Los Angeles communities.

Collections include:

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