Malabar Branch Library is a branch library of the

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 Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

located in the Boyle Heights section of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The Malabar Branch began in 1914 as a book depository in a Sunday school room at the Brooklyn Heights Methodist Church on the corner of Evergreen Avenue and Malabar Street. The original collection consisted of approximately 900 books that were checked out on the honor system. In 1925, a bond issue was passed by Los Angeles voters providing funds for the construction of 14 new branch libraries, including the current Malabar Branch. Construction on the new Mediterranean Revival- Spanish Colonial Revival building started in 1926, and the new library was opened in May 1927. The building was designed by architect William Lee Woollett. The Malabar Branch was damaged in the

1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake occurred in the southern San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities of Southern California, United States, at on October 1. The moderate magnitude 5.9 blind thrust earthquake was centered several miles no ...

and was closed. The branch was extensively renovated and reopened in 1992 with separate reading rooms for adults and children, a multipurpose room and a patron services room. In 1987, the Malabar Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

as part of a thematic group submission.The Multiple Property Submission nomination explains 22 branch libraries but one, the University Branch, appears not to have been listed. The application noted that the branch libraries had been constructed in a variety of period revival styles to house the initial branch library system of the City of Los Angeles. With respect to the Malabar Branch, the application described the building as a one-story, brick structure designed in a revival style reminiscent of rural Latin America. The Malabar Branch is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

References

External links

Malabar Branch Library
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History of Malabar Branch, 1949, written by the staff of the branch

Malabar Branch History, 1936-1949

History of Malabar Branch, 1949-1959

History of Malabar Branch, 1959-1969

Jew in the literature of the last decade: A selected list of books by Jews or relating to them, a booklist created by the Malabar Branch Library staff in the 1920s to meet the needs of Boyle Heights' large Jewish community
{{LAHMC Library buildings completed in 1927 Libraries in Los Angeles Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Mediterranean Revival architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California Boyle Heights, Los Angeles

See also

References

External links