"[6] The Los Angeles Library Association was formed in late 1872, and by early 1873, a well-stocked reading room had opened in the Downey Block at Temple and Main streets under the first librarian, John Littlefield.

While this new room did not offer any books, it did provide a number of magazines and comfortable sofa and chairs for local clubwomen to use.

She was forced out after a controversy over the library's acquisition of Jean Richepin's book La Cadet, which was considered indecent at the time.

[7] Mary Jones, who was appointed Librarian in 1905, was fired by the library board in favor of Charles Fletcher Lummis.

Women in Los Angeles petitioned and marched in support of Jones but she was finally forced out; she took up a position as head of the library at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

[11][12] Lummis established several special collections, including photography, autographs, and California and Spanish history.

[14] The Central Library Goodhue building was constructed in 1926 and is a Downtown Los Angeles landmark.

The building was burned out by a catastrophic fire in 1986 when a million books and many other records (patents, play scripts, photographs) were damaged or totally destroyed.

[19] Besides the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles, the system operates 72 branch locations in the city's neighborhoods.

[27] City Librarian John F. Szabo and community member Sergio Sanchez accepted the award on behalf of the library from First Lady Michelle Obama during a White House Ceremony on May 20, 2015.

The award recognizes the library's programs that help people on their path to citizenship, earn their high school diploma, manage personal finances and access health and well-being services and resources.