Los Angeles Public Library | |
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![]() South entrance of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library at Hope Street | |
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Location | Headquarters: 630 West 5th Street Los Angeles, California, United States |
Type | Public |
Established | 1872 |
Branches | 72 |
Collection | |
Size | 6,393,429 |
Access and use | |
Circulation | 18 million (2008) |
Population served | 4,030,904 (city)
18,783,638 (metro) |
Other information | |
Budget | US$134,630,543 |
Director | John F. Szabo (Fall 2012) |
Employees | 944 |
Website | lapl.org |
References: [1][2] |
The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes,[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] In 1997 a local historian described it as "one of the biggest and best-regarded library systems in the nation."[6] It is not to be confused with the LA County Library system which operates several library branches across certain areas of Los Angeles County.