Los Angeles Central Library
Richard J. Riordan Central Library, also known as the Los Angeles Central Library, is the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan.
South entrance at Hope Street
Cornerstone of the original building, laid in 1925
Los Angeles Central Library at Flower Street
A portion of the four-part mural by illustrator Dean Cornwell depicted the stages of the history of California at the Los Angeles Central Library.
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Greater Los Angeles area, it serves the largest metropolitan population of any public library system in the United States. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the mayor of Los Angeles in staggered terms, and operates 72 library branches throughout the city. In 1997 a local historian described it as "one of the biggest and best-regarded library systems in the nation." It is not to be confused with the LA County Library system which operates several library branches across certain areas of Los Angeles County.
South entrance of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library at Hope Street
The Downey Block, 1880s
Mary Foy
Tessa Kelso