with a gift to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles
 

The Los Angeles Public Library meets a full spectrum of needs -- informational, cultural, recreational and educational. There is no other institution that can reach a greater number of people and so positively affect their lives.

	LAPL's first librarian, John Littlefield

The Los Angeles Public Library:

• Was established in 1872 and is one of the oldest educational and cultural institutions in the city of Los Angeles

• Is composed of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library and 71 branch libraries

• Serves the largest and most diverse population of any public library in the United States in a service area that spans nearly 500 square miles, from Venice to Eagle Rock, San Pedro to Chatsworth.

Los Angeles Public Libraries

• Had a record of more than 14 million visits by patrons this past year who checked out over 15 million items.

• Offers an array of resources that attracts users from surrounding communities and throughout the state, and its website (www.lapl.org) extends library services to a national and global audience.

• Provides innovative reading and learning enrichment programs for children, teens, and adults, many of which have been replicated across the country.

	Shakespeare folio (1685), Special Collections

•  Maintains a collection of more than 6 million books in hundreds of different languages and dialects that represent the diversity of Southern California.

• Offers free public access to more than 2,200 computer workstations that feature hundreds of electronic databases and the Internet to bring global electronic information to every neighborhood.

• Provides free wireless Internet access at all 72 libraries.

• Recently completed a monumental branch construction project - the largest in the nation. More than 90 percent of the libraries citywide were rebuilt or expanded, and four new libraries were built.

• Offers comprehensive adult literacy training services at 16 branch libraries and the Singleton Literacy Center at the Central Library.

• Strives to inform, enrich and empower every person by offering free access to information, and by supporting life-long learning in a welcoming environment.

Library programs and services are offered free of charge. Many are enhanced -- or made possible -- by donors to the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.

For more information, visit the Los Angeles Public Library's web site at www.lapl.org or use the links below:

Contact the Library Administrative Staff
Branch Directory
Central Library
How to Apply for a Library Card
View the Library's On-line Catalog

 
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n December 5, 1872, a notice appeared in local newspapers announcing a public meeting to be held for the purpose of forming a Library Association. One paper, the Star, noted: "The absence of a place where a cultivated person may go for books of reference or standard library works has been spoken of to our injury abroad." Among the 200 who attended the meeting were California Governor John G. Downey, Judge Ignacio Sepulveda, and Colonel E. M. Stanford. On December 7, the group formed the Los Angeles Library Association, which was to become the Los Angeles Public Library.