Libraries

Farenheit 420

Follow Exene to the Library

Four Most Notorious Times Rhodes Scholar Eric Garcetti Pleaded Ignorance Or Kept People in the Dark When Facing Controversy

For an Ivy League grad and Rhodes Scholar, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti has the uncanny habit of not knowing certain details when the shit hits the fan. This happens so often that L.A. Weekly has come up with four of the most notorious times Garcetti pleaded ignorant -- or personal ... More >>

Oscars 2013: Blogging From the Press Room

See also: *More L.A. Weekly film coverage *How a $45,000 Oscar Gift Bag Is Born Our report from the press room is adapted from tweets at @laweeklyarts and @zpincusroth -- follow us there too. [Updated: 10:25 pm] 10:11 pm Anne Hathaway has press room's most sincere line of the night, on why she s ... More >>

Contamination: It's What's For Breakfast

That's Mr. President To You

L.A. Public Libraries Restore Hours After Voters Rose Against Villaraigosa Budget Cuts

While Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the L.A. City Council continue to deal with lingering budget deficits, there's one bright spot amid the darkness -- L.A. public libraries are now open longer. Starting today, the added hours at the city's 73 libraries is the second phase of returning the public ... More >>

Why Antonio Villaraigosa, Barack Obama's Top Cheerleader, Has Been Deemed a 'Failure' in Los Angeles

With the Democratic National Convention now over, it's clear that President Barack Obama has chosen, of all people, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to be a high-profile cheerleader for his 2012 re-election campaign. That decision has caused a lot of head scratching in Los Angeles. He was, a ... More >>

Bed Bugs Reported at L.A. Central Library

See also: "Report: Los Angeles Now Has More Bed Bugs Than New York" and "Women Surprised to Find Bed Bugs at $62 Glendale Motel, Sue." At least two bed bugs have been spotted at L.A. Central Library in the last month -- one on August 9, crawling across a reference desk in the Science & Technology D ... More >>

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Hires John Szabo to Lead Los Angeles Public Library System

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed a new head librarian for the city's public library system today: John Szabo, who has run the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System since 2005. Librarian union president Roy Stone doesn't know much about Szabo, but he's sorry to see L.A. City Librarian ... More >>

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

Nice Work If You Can Get It

The Cookbook Christmas Tree: Inglewood Public Library, Blue Bird Circle Cookbook The Joy of Cooking as Ornament

Inglewood Public LibraryChristmas tree​Everyone gets into the Yuletide spirit differently. In the case of Bri Webber, a library assistant at the Inglewood Public Library, her version of decorating for the holidays did not involve jingle bells, shiny ornaments or boughs of holly. Instead she ... More >>

Asco at LACMA: Glitter, Face Paint, Velvet and Chiffon in the Name of Politics

Courtesy of LACMA and the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University LibrariesAsco Goes to the Universe, 1975: a glamorous close-up of the collective​ If you imagine David Bowie moonlighting as a Chicano performance artist, you might begin to get a sense of Asco, the radical collec ... More >>

Porn on L.A. Library Public Terminals Gets Serious Debate in City Hall

merrick_monroeNot an L.A. library branch (but could be).​Ah, L.A. City Hall, always tackling the Big Issue. Like cat declawing and an Arizona business boycott that has no teeth. And now the accidental, over-the-shoulder viewing of internet porn at public libraries is a matter of serious inqu ... More >>

Measure L Library Funding Election Results: Los Angeles Voters Approve Plan to Reopen 73 Shuttered Libraries

Ted SoquiRichard J. Riordan Central Library​L.A. voters strongly approved Measure L today, early returns showed. The city ballot initiative increases dedicated spending for the Los Angeles Public Library system by $50 million over the next few years without raising taxes. Lucy McCoy, chairwo ... More >>

Measure L: For Sheryn Morris and Other Librarians, Adults, Students and Immigrants Need Libraries Now More Than Ever

Jason Jones​Sheryn Morris has been a librarian for 32 years. Eighteen of them at the Los Angeles Public Library system. She currently works at the reference desk at the literature and fiction section of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown. "We really love our jobs," says Morri ... More >>

Measure L: Benjamin Franklin Librarian Alicia Moguel Says Young Students and Unemployed Impacted By Budget Cuts to L.A.'s Libraries

L.A. Librarian Alicia Moguel​The Benjamin Franklin Branch Library in Boyle Heights serves 16 local elementary schools -- from public to private -- but young students can't go to the busy library after school on Mondays due to deep budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library system. "We no ... More >>

L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti Claims Library Cuts Went 'Under the Radar' -- Despite 10,000 Postcards to His Office, Billboard in His District

Maybe Eric Garcetti just forgot to put his glasses on​At L.A. City Hall, a new mantra is emerging: When in doubt, plead ignorant. That's how City Council President Eric Garcetti chose to handle a February 18 KPCC radio question about his role in cutting the Los Angeles Public Library system d ... More >>

Measure L: Mar Vista Branch Librarian Carole M. Kealoha Says Patrons Hurt and Confused by Library Budget Cuts

L.A. Librarian Carole M. Kealoha​At the Mar Vista Branch Library on the west side, senior librarian Carole M. Kealoha says patrons are not happy about the steep budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library, where they rely on its services and resources. "Not everyone has a computer at home, ... More >>

Measure L: Exposition Park Branch Librarian Maddy Kerr Says Veterans and Students Deeply Impacted by Library Budget Cuts

L.A. Librarian Maddy Kerr​At L.A.'s Exposition Park Branch Library near the University of Southern California, children's librarian Maddy Kerr has seen firsthand the troubling after-effects of severely reduced operating hours at the Los Angeles Public Library system. "People tell me that if ... More >>

Measure L: Parent Thelma Hernandez Says Working Parents Need Libraries Open Six Days a Week

Thelma Hernandez​Thelma Hernandez says the L.A. public library system has been an essential resource for her family, all of whom regularly visit the Robertson Branch Library on L.A.'s westside. Not only do Hernandez and her two kids take out books, DVDs, and CDs, but the young mother is impr ... More >>

Measure L: Chinatown Branch Manager Shan Liang Says Immigrants Hurt by Severe Budget Cuts to L.A.'s Public Libraries

Chinatown Branch Library in downtown L.A.​Read the most recent L.A. Weekly news story on public library budget cuts: L.A.'s Library Measure L. At the Chinatown Branch Library in downtown Los Angeles, manager Shan Liang says Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese immigrants who know little, if any, ... More >>

LIVE FROM L.A. ... !

Measure L: Robertson Branch Librarian Henry Gambill Says Budget Cuts Hurt Students Who Need Hard-to-Find Books

L.A. Librarian Henry Gambill​Read the most recent L.A. Weekly news story on the public library budget cuts: L.A.'s Library Measure L. Aside from the dying city of Detroit, Los Angeles is the only significant U.S. municipality to close down its entire public library system two days a week due ... More >>

Measure L: Porter Ranch Librarian Jane Dobija Says Slashed Funding For Libraries Limits Public's Access to Needed Information

L.A. Librarian Jane Dobija​When it comes to the harsh budget cuts that have shuttered L.A.'s public libraries two days a week, and reduced operating hours on other days, Jane Dobija thinks back to her time as a radio journalist covering the Polish revolution in the late 1980s. "When people l ... More >>

Measure L: Cypress Park Librarian Patrick Xavier Says Harsh Budget Cuts Hamper Top-Notch Customer Service

Cypress Park Branch Library​In northeast Los Angeles at the Cypress Park Branch Library, acting senior librarian Patrick Xavier has been dealing with the daily fall out of severe budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library system, which has reduced his staff. "It's a struggle to maintain a ... More >>

Measure L: Studio City Librarian Karen Pickard-Four Says Teens and Seniors Feel the Pain of Budget Cuts at L.A. Libraries

Ted SoquiRichard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown L.A.​At the Studio City Branch Library in the San Fernando Valley, acting senior librarian Karen Pickard-Four says teens and senior citizens feel the pain of severe budget cuts at the Los Angeles Public Library system. "For those kids w ... More >>

Measure L: Due To Severe Budget Cuts, L.A. Librarians Struggle to Help Students and Families

Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown L.A.​Update, 2:50 p.m.: The Library Foundation of Los Angeles gave a major boost to the Measure L campaign, contributing $200,000 to get the ballot measure passed. Read more after jump. Last summer, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the ... More >>

LAPD vs. Libraries: Cops Oppose Library Funding Measure, Fearing Cuts to Police Budget

Protesters oppose cuts to library funding outside the Central Library last year​The union that represents LAPD officers came out strongly today against Measure L, an item on the March 8 ballot that would set aside funding for the Los Angeles Public Library system.In a statement, Los Angeles Police ... More >>

Valley Industry and Commerce Association Endorses Measure L and More Funding for L.A.'s Public Libraries

Ted SoquiRichard J. Riordan Central Library​Another major organization has jumped on the pro-Measure L bandwagon, which seeks to boost the budget of Los Angeles public libraries by giving them a larger percentage of existing monies in the city's general fund. There's no proposed tax increas ... More >>

Maria Elena Durazo and Richard Riordan Lead Mixed Coalition on Measure L, To Save Los Angeles' Shuttered Libraries

Villaraigosa and the L.A. City Council still sit on millions of dollars in personal fat.​Finally, a big coalition is urging approval of Measure L on the March 8 ballot, which would save the decimated Los Angeles public library system from anti-library Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who, as mentio ... More >>

Los Angeles Ranks In Bottom Fourth Of 'America's Most Literate Cities'

PHOTO BY TED SOQUIDespite protests, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made massive cuts to the Los Angeles library system in 2010​City of airheads, indeed. According to a report released today by the Central Connecticut State University, Los Angeles slides into a pitiful 61st place in a ranking ... More >>

L.A. Has a Jammed 2011 Ballot

Residents will be asked to rein in DWP, save libraries from Villaraigosa's pen

Emerson Middle School Students Protest Library Cuts

Emerson MIddle SchoolEmerson Middle School students have been without a librarian this year​ Los Angeles Unified schools are in a funk - some libraries may have their hours slashed while other libraries will be shut down altogether, leaving school children with fewer places to turn to for hel ... More >>

Rushed and Confused L.A. City Council

Library, weed, DWP measures aimed for ballot all get short shrift

Los Angeles County Introduces Its First Green Library

SGVN Keith BirminghamThe Sorensen Library goes green​ Eco-friendly LA County dedicated its first full-fledged green library in Whittier today. About 40 percent of the newly constructed Sorensen Library is made with recycled materials and features sun-absorbing roofing material, absorbable pa ... More >>

Where Have All the Library Hours Gone?

L.A. Weekly Readers Sound Off on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Dismantling of Public Libraries

Ted SoquiA demonstrator at a recent rally where budget cuts to the L.A. Public Library system were denounced ​L.A. Weekly readers certainly aren't happy with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's decision to dismantle the city's public library system, which is examined in our in-depth feat ... More >>

City of Airheads: Villaraigosa Dismantles L.A.'s Vaunted Library System

Mayor mirrors Detroit's disastrous choice

Crowd Holds Rally in Downtown L.A. to Protest Library Closures

Steve La​About 60 people gathered this morning in downtown Los Angeles to protest budget cuts to the Los Angeles Public Library. Union leaders, poets, teachers, students and concerned citizens marched down 5th Street chanting "one-two-three-four... unslam the library doors," as cars passing ... More >>

Librarians Stake Out Mayor Villaraigosa's House To Protest City Cuts

Getty House, the mayor's official residence.​Once upon a time there was a big-city mayor who ignored a looming budget deficit by trekking to Europe, appearing on a soap opera and hosting an Oscar party. He avoided the problem until last-minute, when it was almost too late. But the mayor had a ... More >>

Friends Of L.A. Libraries To Crash City Council Meeting

L.A.'s downtown Central Library.​Opponents of cuts to Los Angeles city libraries are headed to City Hall Tuesday to let their concerns be heard in front of the City Council. The group Save The Library plans an "urgent action" 10 a.m. Tuesday. It's urging those who are against the cutbacks to t ... More >>

STEVE AND DAVE — RAMBLIN' GUYS

Today in Photographs: March 10, 1946

Librarian's Point of View. This traffic accident occurred in front of Highland Park's Arroyo Seco branch of the public library. (Figueroa and Piedmont.) It involved a trolley car, a motorcycle and two cars. LAPL CollectionClick image to enlarge

Toxic Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Readers defend Virgil Middle School plan

Library Book Liberation Front: Don't Tax Library Books

Apolitical L.A. roars at deficit-mired Villaraigosa

Check This Out

Libraries quietly sound alarm against PATRIOT Act

The Grateful Web

Our county wants to curtail your Net access