Gretchen Berg was born on the East Coast, raised in the Midwest, and spent a number of years in the Pacific Northwest. She has taught English in South Korea and in Northern Iraq and has traveled to…
Award-winning author Grady Hendrix has written about the confederate flag for Playboy magazine, covered terrible movie novelizations and ninja death swarms for outlets ranging from Slate to the…
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton: An American Musical took the world by storm when it premiered in 2015. Combining American history with modern music styles and traditional period costumes with…
On July 11, 1959, Suzanne Vega was born. Vega is a singer/songwriter who had some unexpected pop success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a pair of surprising hit singles, “Luka” and “Tom’s…
Ray Potes is a photographer and the editor of Hamburger Eyes, a black and white photography zine. He’s also the creator of the blog and zine, Ray Reports. Since 2001, Potes and Hamburger Eyes have…
Elizabeth Little is the author of Dear Daughter, which won the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel, and two works of nonfiction, Biting the Wax Tadpole and Trip of the Tongue. She lives in Los…
Today, we highlight a teen volunteer from the Porter Ranch Branch Library. We’d like to call Hannah Cha an all-around teen volunteer, that rare volunteer who considers shelving books therapeutic…
Last month we took a look at the lives of famous authors as shown in popular films. And while that was a fun way to learn more about the authors we know and love, we all know that sometimes films take…
Other than indigenous peoples, we are a nation of immigrants, those who came by choice and those who came by force. As our country keeps growing and changing with new people arriving all the time…
Dr. Kathryn Harkup is a chemist and author. She completed a doctorate on her favorite chemicals, phosphines, and went on to further postdoctoral research before realizing that talking, writing, and…
Libraries are empty of customers and that is sad as hell. Sad for library workers who not only love the musty smell of the stacks but also the everyday challenges of actual patrons! We pine for our…
Aldous Huxley described Los Angeles as “nineteen suburbs in search of a metropolis"—and didn’t mean it as a compliment. In fact, the diversity of Los Angeles is one of its greatest strengths. The Los…
On June 28, 1970, the very first Pride Parade in Los Angeles was held on Hollywood Boulevard, one year after the Stonewall uprising in New York City. New York held its own parade on the same day, as…
Zen Cho is the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown, The True Queen, as well as the short story collection Spirits Abroad. She is a Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Award winner, and a finalist for…
Actor biographies are consistently one of the most popular parts of the Literature Department holdings. The extremely large collection features biographies and autobiographies of film stars, comedians…
As the month of June comes to an end, we are celebrating the first anniversary of the Octavia Lab and Octavia E. Butler’s birthday by taking a glimpse into her life as a teenager and a list of great…
The library is home to many resources, even heavy metal music. We make it possible to indulge people on a headbanging journey on demand through resources such as hoopla and Freegal. My partner-in…
The MarketWatch news portal reported on May 20, National Rescue Dog Day, that pet adoptions had “seen a spike” during the recent nation-wide lockdowns as people sought companionship, a distraction…
“Today I sketched the preliminary plans for a large country house which will be erected in one of the most beautiful residential districts in the world... Sometimes I have dreamed of living there. I…
World Refugee Day is June 20, a day to celebrate the courage and resilience of refugees all over the world. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Refugee Act and since that time, California has…
Maggie Tokuda-Hall is the author of the Parent's Choice Gold Medal-winning picture book, Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies. She lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, son, and…
This week we are exploring Octavia E. Butler’s childhood and some great science fiction books for children, as we continue to celebrate her birthday and the first anniversary of the Octavia Lab…
The notion of having one’s own savings account is commonplace to us modern folk. But for former slaves—many of whom had never even seen money—it was an alien concept. And, in a country that runs on…
On this blog we have featured hundreds of films adapted from novels and short stories by authors from across the world and throughout history. While we have celebrated their works both on page and on…
