Van Nuys Branch covers two branch library buildings 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 ...

, both located in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

, central

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

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' ...

"Old" Van Nuys Branch of 1926

The original or "Old" Van Nuys Branch library was built in 1926 based on a

Spanish Colonial Revival style The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

design by architects Allen & Allen. In 37 years of operation, the circulation grew from 27,000 to more than 350,000 volumes annually. The old branch was closed in 1964, and replaced with a new branch in the Van Nuys Civic Center on the other side of

Van Nuys Boulevard Van Nuys Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs through the central San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. The boulevard was notable for its cruising lifestyle that was prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, which w ...

.LAPL: History of the Van Nuys Branch
. 2014-02-14. ;National Register of Historic Places In 1987, the "Old" Van Nuys 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.

"New" Van Nuys Branch of 1964

The "New" Van Nuys Branch library opened in 1964 in the then-new Van Nuys Civic Center. The Mid-century modern style one-story masonry building extends out into the landscape with a modernist

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

, and is shaded by groves of trees. The building was also headquarters for the Los Angeles Public Library's bookmobile service. It was temporarily closed and surrounded by a chain-link fence in 2005, and in 2007 the city announced plans to auction off the building. Instead it was renovated to reopen as the branch library again. The restored and updated "New" Van Nuys branch library is again the

branch for Van Nuys, in the expanded

Van Nuys Government Center The Van Nuys Government Center (aka Van Nuys Civic Center or San Fernando Valley Administrative Center) is a cluster of buildings in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles that houses various local, state and federal government offices and serv ...

complex of public buildings that replaced the former Van Nuys Civic Center. In January 2019, the "New" Van Nuys branch library closed again for renovations. It was scheduled to reopen in Summer 2020, but the renovations were delayed due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The library finally reopened in October 2021.

References

External links

Los Angeles Public Library: official Van Nuys Branch website

Grand re-opening celebration of the Van Nuys Branch, Oct. 24, 1996

Dedication of the Van Nuys Branch, May 11, 1964
{{authority control Libraries in Los Angeles Van Nuys, Los Angeles Public libraries in California Buildings and structures in the San Fernando Valley Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Library buildings completed in 1926 Library buildings completed in 1964 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles National Register of Historic Places in the San Fernando Valley 1926 in California 1964 in California Modernist architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California

"Old" Van Nuys Branch of 1926

"New" Van Nuys Branch of 1964

See also

References

External links