“The library is a gathering pool of narratives and of the people who come to find them. It is where we can glimpse immortality; in the library, we can live forever,” writes Susan Orlean in her newest work, The Library Book. The New Yorker staff writer and author of seven books, including Rin Tin Tin […]
“This is the story of the most important and emblematic environmental and public health disaster of this young century. More bluntly, it is the story of a government poisoning its own citizens, and then lying about it. It is a story about what happens when the very people responsible for keeping us safe care more […]
“I think it’s useful to see the world not as things and people but as a series of approaches and options for ways to perceive them. Language is approximate—it is a complicated code,” writes Laurie Anderson. An icon of performance art and the indie-music world, Anderson has been inventing new approaches to perceiving the world […]
This January, the Los Angeles Public Library is paying tribute to the incredible legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. through special programming across branch libraries from peace-themed craft projects for kids at the Benjamin Franklin Branch to exploring King’s life in books at the John Muir Branch. To shed light on another important story of […]
‘Tis the time of year when critics, editors, librarians, and book lovers alike compile their favorite reads of the year. Ranging from urgent topics like the environment and politics to lyrical stories that take us into never-seen-before worlds, we’ve noticed one reoccurring theme on these “best of” lists for 2017: many of these authors have […]
“Rocking on the razor-musseled bay, lulled by the sleepy toll of buoy bells, the music of rigging, the eloquent stanzas of the waves, I wait for news from the sea,” begins Janet Fitch’s new novel. After this rhythmically-charged opening, it’s no shock that this story centers around a poet, but it may surprise fans of […]
As Angelenos gear up for festivities surrounding Día de los Muertos later this month, what better way to honor the dead than with an eye-opening look at how other cultures around the world care for their dead. On November 1 at ALOUD, Caitlin Doughty, a mortician, New York Times best-selling author, blogger, and director of […]
This Saturday, September 16, the Los Angeles Public Library in a partnership with the Library Foundation of Los Angeles kicks-off a special project to take a closer look at the rich social fabric of our own city by focusing on the vibrant Oaxacan community in L.A. through the lens of indigenous Zapotec cultures. Visualizing Language: […]
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 […]
Are you one of Roxane Gay’s 220,000 plus Twitter followers? If not, you’re missing out on one of the most candid, insightful, and fierce voices writing today. Ranging from commentary on Black Lives Matter to body shaming to pop-culture, Gay is a prolific essayist and cultural critic who uses Twitter as just one of her […]
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