LOS ANGELES CENTRAL LIBRARY

The Richard J. Riordan Central Library in downtown Los Angeles is both a leading public research library and a major architectural landmark. Comprised of the original 1926 library now called the Goodhue Building and a 1993 addition named for former mayor Tom Bradley, it ranks with the Bradbury Building and Union Station as a treasure of the city’s historic downtown. The library has been designated a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument (#46) and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Free docent tours of the building and its art are given every day the library is open, and on Saturday there is a tour of the Maguire Gardens which surround the library.

What follows is a brief guide to the art and architecture of the Central Library created by library docents Kenon Breazeale, Katy Go, and Sally Michaels. At the top of each page there are links to six chapters that provide more detailed information about aspects of the library’s art and architecture. Unless otherwise noted, all historic photographs are courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection.

Designed by New York architect Bertram Goodhue, the original Central Library was built during the mid-1920s. It was the last project of Goodhue’s career. He died suddenly in 1924, and his associate Carleton Winslow took over supervision of construction, bringing the building to completion in 1926.

From the ground floor a formal divided staircase set against the north wall was designed to be the primary route up to the main level. At the top of the stairs is a vestibule housing the only Lawrie sculptures created for the Goodhue Building’s interior, two black marble sphinxes and an allegorical statue entitled Civilization.

From the north staircase a short corridor leads into the Rotunda. Now empty of its original working function (the catalog has been computerized and circulation relocated to the ground floor), this room can be appreciated as the dramatically beautiful heart of Goodhue’s design.