Every group of friends has that one member who reliably delivers cool gifts with cards to match. In our case, said friend was willing to share her source: the Library Store at Central Library. Every nook and cranny of this smallish space is filled with books (of course!), many about L.A. or on themes such as cooking, gardening and literature; educational but fun toys that kids will adore; jewelry and gadget covers (iPad, Kindle, etc.) for book lovers; creative greeting cards and postcards; T-shirts and other garments; and unusual items such as colorful paper sculptures made by librarian Dora Ho from recycled catalogs. Now you, too, have access to one-stop cool gift shopping, down to the funky wrapping paper and artistic gift tags. Even better, proceeds support the Los Angeles Public Library. 630 W. Fifth St., dwntwn. (213) 228-7550, lfla.org/store.

—Lisa Horowitz

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