Books, baseball, and ice cream–what more could you want from summer? With a bustling slate of ALOUD programs, a renewed partnership with the Dodgers, and an entire month dedicated to celebrating our Members, the Library Foundation has officially mastered the art of summer. Before we head into fall, here’s a look back at some of the special moments we’ve shared with our community over the last few months–all in the spirit of supporting the Los Angeles Public Library.
The Home Team
Through a renewed partnership with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and a pledge of $50,000 to support Summer at the Library, Dodger players, alumni, announcers and manager Dave Roberts led story-times at eight branch libraries. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation also motivated young Angelenos to keep learning through the summer by giving away over 500 tickets to Summer Reading participants, including a suite for lucky winners, and plenty of hats and t-shirts during story-time events.
Welcome to ALOUD!
“I don’t dance, I don’t sing, I don’t speak my tribal language. The only thing that connects me to millennia upon millennia of tribal tradition is storytelling. I am at my most indigenous when I am telling stories,” said Sherman Alexie recently at ALOUD. For more than two decades, ALOUD has been cultivating a loyal following of audience members who gather regularly around the year to hear stories from world-renowned authors, artists, scientists, philosophers, and more. This summer, ALOUD welcomed many first timers to ALOUD with three off-site events at the Aratani Theatre. Around 40-50% of these audiences were new to ALOUD, all coming out for some of the most buzzed-about books of the summer, including Roxane Gay with Hunger: A Memoir of (MY) Body, Arundhati Roy with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (watch below), and Sherman Alexie with You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.
We Love Our Members
Membership to the Library Foundation ensures that the Central Library and 72 neighborhood branches provide unparalleled and equal access to programs and services for all ages across the city, and as a way to give thanks for this critical support, we celebrated Membership Appreciation Month throughout July. With a series of special events, benefits, giveaways, and more, we had a blast giving back to our Members, including the super sweet Ice Cream Social, where Members were treated to over 300 complimentary scoops of Jeni’s Ice Cream.
Thank you to our supporters for making this a great summer for all Angelenos!
