Dear Reader,
It’s my great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 32nd Annual Stay Home and Read a Book Ball.
When I was a child in Morocco, I didn’t get a chance to go to the public library because our neighborhood didn’t have one. I never got to experience the pleasure of wandering through stacks of shelves, choosing a few, and taking them home with me to read. But I had the great fortune to grow up in a house full of books, and to be raised by book lovers. One of my earliest memories is watching my father on one end of the sofa, my mother on the other, both of them with books in their hands. It was only natural that I started to do the same from an early age. Sometimes, I wonder what path my life would have taken had I not been given the opportunity to read, and to fall in love with, books.
So believe me when I say that the work of the Los Angeles Public Library is vital. By giving free access to millions of books in all genres and in every available format, LAPL serves community members of all ages, backgrounds, classes, and abilities, helping them connect with ideas, characters, and stories from all over the world. Libraries offer their members education, entertainment, and engagement, sometimes all at once. They nurture and inform. They provide shelter and support. They build bridges instead of walls.
Books changed my life. Perhaps they’ve changed yours, too. Please give generously in support of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Laila Lalami
All Stay Home and Read a Book Ball contributions are fully tax-deductible. No goods, services, or benefits are provided, and is not a contribution towards Membership.
To learn more about the Stay Home and Read a Book Ball, please contact Sarah Charleton, Membership Director, at 213.292.6242 or [email protected].