The Central Library of downtown Los Angeles has seen its fair share of colorful moments.
The architectural gem, which turns 100 this week, was the backdrop for the epic street fight between Pacino, De Niro and others in Heat, and where is the origin Ghost Busters They found their first ghost, a friendly old lady librarian who was nothing at all. Television shows such as Moonlighting; Murder, he wrote; And L.A. Law was also filmed there when characters were researching or investigating a case.
But the library has also been touched by the dark side of L.A. life. “Night Stalker” serial killer Richard Ramirez Came here in 1985 And asked for books on astrology and torture. Always helpful, the librarian directed him to the correct department and thought little more about the unstable man with rotten teeth – until he recognized him when he was arrested several days later.
Then there was the still officially unsolved arson of 1986, in which 400,000 books were destroyed and the library closed for seven years.
“People think libraries are quiet, but really they’re not. They rumble with the jumble of voices and footsteps and a whole orchestral array of book-related noises,” writes Susan Orlean in The Library Book., His 2018 bestseller about the Central Library.
That was certainly true last week, when the author was one of an estimated 12,000 people who packed the corridors, halls, courtyards, rotunda, reading rooms and sculpture garden to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
According to L Is for Librarian, the ABC of the Art Deco-era Library: Los Angeles Central Library has approximately 3 million books and 89 miles of shelves. The library’s most dazzling and Instagram-worthy feature is the Central Rotunda – cathedral-like and adorned with Dean Cornwell’s romantic frescoes of California history. Visitors’ eyes are drawn to the Zodiac chandelier with colored glass globes and zodiac signs.
“It is one of the city’s great civic spaces, a place that is used, loved, and appreciated every day,” says Stephen Gee, author of Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture. “It’s one of the few places in modern Los Angeles where everyone is welcome, no matter their background or circumstance. It doesn’t ask who you are or what you earn.”
After the city outgrew several smaller locations, the municipal dream of a massive downtown library was financed through a $2.5 million municipal bond measure approved in 1921.
Designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, the Central Library officially opened its doors in 1926.
“Goodhue promised a library that was ‘Spanish in style – at least in spirit,'” Gee writes in his book, “but what he ultimately created was far more original: a remarkable blend of Spanish, Egyptian, Byzantine, and Islamic influences.”
That fusion is evident whether you head to the library from Hope Street, which was the entrance to the original, mural-lined tunnel, or through the sculpture and fountain-spotted Maguire Gardens.
Above the main entrance are Hesper and Phosphorus, the ancient Greek morning and evening stars; Hesper holds a scroll bearing the names of the Eastern philosophers, Moses, Buddha and Mohammed.
The most noticeable thing for first-time visitors is the colorful mosaic pyramid on the roof of the building, which depicts sunlight and at its top is a hand-held torch symbolizing the light of learning.
The Egyptian theme is also seen in the two black-gold sphinxes, which are located at the top of a staircase on either side of a female statue representing the civilization.
One of the longest lines at this week’s Centennial Festival was for the old injection-molded vending machine, which small replica wax models Of those sphinxes.
Christina Rice, senior librarian of the library’s vast photo collection and co-chair of the Central 100, named the whistling, jukebox-like machine “Mold-a-Central”, and acquiring it had been on her wish list for years.
“About a dozen years ago, we received an inquiry into the photo collection from a conservator looking for images of these machines,” Rice said.
This brought back a flood of childhood memories for Rice, who recalled finding animal models at the LA Zoo and admitted that she “became a little obsessed with them”. After finally locating a machine, he set it up for the Central 100 event. “This will be a permanent fixture and we will keep changing the molds from time to time,” he said.
Elsewhere, people took old catalog cards and used them to write poems on old typewriters, while cards were eagerly looked at in the huge family name cabinet in the history and genealogy department.
“People love card catalogs,” says Kelly Wallace, the department’s California history specialist. “I think Los Angeles has matured in terms of taking an interest in its history. Every day, people come to the library to research the history of their families, homes, neighborhoods, and the city around them.”
Rice points out that the library is as relevant as ever, despite those who might declare libraries “obsolete”. She mentions how the central library provides services for job seekers and people looking for a path to citizenship or wanting to learn a new language. “We have a program for adults to earn a high school diploma, tons of resources to prepare teens for college, and literacy support for patrons of all ages.”
On the science, technology and patent floor is the Octavia Lab, which offers 3D printing, digitizers, converters, vinyl cutters, large-format printers – and sewing and embroidery machines. The facility is named after a former frequent patron, the late Octavia Butler, the renowned science fiction author who said: “Public libraries… are America’s open universities.”
The daily business of the library continued during the events, but the most popular book of the day was Luceros y Penumras (roughly translated as “Starlight and Shadows”) by Daniel González. At 31-by-20 feet and 11 feet long, it is The world’s largest pop-up bookAccording to the library, another £1,800 worth of work was carefully assembled In the center of the rotunda.
But perhaps the best news of the day? Five hundred eighty-eight people were issued new library cards.
