The Library will be closed on Thursday, December 25, 2025, in observance of Christmas.

LAPL Blog

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Author Travis Baldree and his latest novel, Brigands & Breadknives
Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch Library, December 18, 2025

Travis Baldree is a full-time audiobook narrator who has lent his voice to hundreds of stories. Before that, he spent decades designing and building video games like Torchlight, Rebel Galaxy, and Fate. Apparently, he now also writes #1...

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Mitchell Red Cloud

Honoring Native American Veterans

Deborah Savage, Librarian, History & Genealogy Department, Monday, November 21, 2016

November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the cultures, histories, traditions, and achievements of Native people. We also honor veterans this month, on November 11.


Sphinxes

Are There Hidden Masonic Symbols on the Los Angeles Central Library? Part 2

Central Docents, Central Library, Tuesday, November 15, 2016

In Part 1 of our post we looked at sculpture on the library’s exterior as it reflects an overall theme, The Light of Learning.


Day of the Dead

El Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead (Bilingual)

Lupita Leyva, Senior Librarian, Robert Louis Stevenson Branch Library, Thursday, October 27, 2016

El Día de los Muertos


Flower Street facade of Los Angeles Central Library

Are There Hidden Masonic Symbols on the Los Angeles Central Library?

Central Docents, Central Library, Friday, October 21, 2016

Since I began leading docent tours eight years ago at the Los Angeles Central Library, some tour goers ask—is hidden Masonic symbolism contained in the art that decorates the library? Unwilling to get into a debate about conspiracy theories or mind control, I always chose to deflect the question.


Mobster Modes

Wendy Horowitz, Librarian, Photo Collection, Tuesday, October 18, 2016

"Clothes make the man", wrote Mark Twain.


Library cards

What's In Your Wallet?

Kelly Wallace, Librarian, History Department, Friday, September 23, 2016

“A library card is the start of a lifelong adventure.”—Author Lilian Jackson Braun


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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.


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


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.


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