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Building History

This branch was the 49th in the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system, dedicated as a memorial to the twenty Los Angeles High School students killed in World War I. According to a history of the branch assembled by the LAPL: "The students of Los Angeles High School commissioned a stained glass window with the names of the twenty alumni and an inscription stating hope for 'peace among nations.' The window, designed by the renowned Judson Art Studio, was inspired by those in the Parliament Building of London and was installed in the adult reading room." (See Los Angeles Public Library.org, "A Brief Memorial Branch Library History," accessed 11/19/2018.)

This branch formally opened 04/29/1930. When it opened, the neighborhood was populated by a high percentage of Jewish families; by the 1970s, this had changed, as African-Americans were already established and various Asian-American nationalities began to settle there.

Building Notes

The building's Tudor Revival styling was meant to harmonize with Los Angeles High School #2, also by Austin and Ashley, done in that style across the street.

Alteration

The architectural firm of Miralles and Associates, Incorporated, supervised the renovations of the Memorial Branch Library, with funding provided the City of Los Angeles's Proposition #1, the 1989 Library Bond Issue, and its Capital Improvement Program. It reopened to the public on 07/22/1996.

William Judson, great-grandson of Walter Horace Judson, (d. 1934, the producer of the original stained-glass windows in the Memorial Library Branch,) designed a new glass art piece for the library in the mid-1990s. According to the Los Angeles Public Library: "Bill Judson provided the public art component, which is a stained glass installation at the end of each aisle of the library's main bookstack ranges." (See Los Angeles Public Library.org, "A Brief Memorial Branch Library History," accessed 11/19/2018.)

PCAD id: 10644