LA Public Library Curtails Hours

If you have been following the budget woes of the City of Los Angeles, this announcement isn't a surprise. It is very disappointing to see Sunday hours being eliminated at LAPL.  The following announcement was received from Mary McCoy at Los Angeles Public Library.

As you may know, the Los Angeles Public Library's genealogy specialist Michael Kirley retired in October after 39 years of service. Until a permanent genealogy librarian can be hired, I will be overseeing the genealogy collection, so I wanted to write to introduce myself and to share with you some recent news that may be of interest to your members.

First, I am pleased to announce that we have added another volume to our digital collection of Los Angeles city directories and street address directories, the 1923 Los Angeles city directory. This directory is especially valuable because it includes listings for San Pedro, Wilmington, Sawtelle, Palms, Westgate, and the San Fernando Valley.

To access the directories, go to http://www.lapl.org/resources/en/ and click the link for "Los Angeles City and Street Directories." Anyone can use the directories - no library card is required for access.

Unfortunately, there is also some bad news to report. Starting April 11, 2010, the Los Angeles Public Library will reduce service hours at the Central Library and all regional branch libraries and community branch libraries.

New hours for the Central Library will be Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. The library will be closed Sunday and holidays.

The change in service hours is needed to enable the library to adjust to recent staff reductions resulting from a citywide early retirement program and a hiring freeze initiated by the City of Los Angeles to reduce its budget deficit. The new service hours were adopted by the Board of Library Commissioners, which sets policy for the Los Angeles Public Library, at the Board’s March 25, 2010 meeting.

More information about the reduction in service hours is available on the Library website at http://www.lapl.org/newsroom/releases/Revised_Hours_2.pdf.

If you have any questions or there is anything I can assist you with, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to working with you and your members in the future.

Sincerely,

Mary McCoy
Librarian - History & Genealogy Department
Los Angeles Public Library
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 228-7412