Digitization projects protect and preserve original items from the Los Angeles Public Library’s rare and historical collections—over half of which have not been added to its already robust online archive.

Through extensive digitization efforts, anyone can access the Library’s diverse visual collections that tell Los Angeles’s story through photographs, autographs, fruit-crate labels, menus, and many other fascinating ways.  The Library maintains an archive of 3 million+ photographs, yet 167,000 are in its searchable online collection that receives more than 21,000 hits a month.  Many of the Library’s photos illustrate Los Angeles’s history, including collections from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Security Pacific, Shades of L.A., and Rolland Curtis.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Library started the Los Angeles COVID-19 Community Archive—a platform for Angelenos to submit their photos and stories during a time of lock-downs, economic downturn, and political upheaval.

To see the Los Angeles Public Library’s digital collections, visit https://tessa.lapl.org/.

Digitization and Collections efforts are supported by the generosity of:

  • The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation
  • Green Oak Foundation
  • Photo Friends of LAPL