Etan Does LA is celebrating National Library Week by visiting LA’s historic libraries on the National Register of Historic Places.

The largest and costliest of the final batch of original LAPL libraries, Wilshire Branch tells the story of the LAPL’s rapid expansion in the 1920s.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1987

When you first encounter the Wilshire Branch library, you’d be forgiven for assuming that you had stumbled upon some medieval nobleman’s villa. Such is the grandness of its proportions, and the ornate stone detailing around the windows and balconies. The gasp-inducing entryway on Council St. is directly inspired by the 11th century Portal of Costanzo at the Perugia Cathedral, down to the fierce-looking griffins on the architrave (this being an American public library, the griffins are protecting a floral pattern, not the Christ child). And yet the Wilshire Branch was built in 1927, not 1027.

The Italian Romanesque structure was designed by Allen Ruoff, an architect well known at the time for his residences. And while he certainly put together a fine-looking building (thumbs up on the charming outdoor courtyard and the skylight above the circulation desk, nice touch Allen!), the wider context of this library is the more interesting story.

At the time of the Wilshire Branch’s completion, the Los Angeles Public Library was nearing the end of a successful 15-year campaign to expand its reach via regional branch libraries. The funding for the first six branches came from Andrew Carnegie (see visit #88, Cahuenga Branch); several more came into the system when LA annexed cities with established branches; a further 11 were provided for when voters approved a $500,000 bond fund in 1921. The Wilshire Branch was one of 14 libraries paid for by another $500k bond fund, approved in 1925. 

The branch libraries built from the 1925 bond issue each have their own unique look, but they all follow a few general policies that the Library Board had developed for interior design: 

• One of three general plans: rectangular, outer L shape or inner L shape 
• Separate adult and children’s sections
• Charging desk as close to the entrance as possible
• Extra stack space that could accommodate expansion up to 20,000 volumes
• Outdoor patio for al fresco reading during the warmer months
• Club rooms for community gatherings, story hours, etc. 
• Staff quarters so the librarians and workers could rest and eat

The 14 branches funded by the 1925 bond were completed within a year and a half, between 1927-28. It’s nuts to me to think that a civic architectural program of this scope could move from referendum stage to completion within three years. Do communities and governments value public libraries that highly anymore? 

After 50 years of uninterrupted service, Wilshire Branch had to shut down in 1987 after sustaining damage during the Whittier Narrows earthquake. It temporarily moved into a former post office at 316 N. Western Ave., just a few blocks away. A seismic retrofit and renovation brought the building up to modern safety standards, and it reopened in 1996.

A final historical tidbit I found interesting: the Wilshire Branch library was the largest and most expensive ($56,405) of the final group of 14 original LAPL branches. But it had its roots in the smallest building ever occupied by an LA library branch, a 12-by-24 foot space on 2nd and Hobart that opened with just 900 books in its collection. As the story goes, a voracious public checked out every single one of the books in its first week of operation, and had to get book loans from the Central Library downtown to stay afloat! The Board of Library Commissioners realized that they would need a permanent facility post-haste, so they purchased the lot at St. Andrews and Council St. in 1922. And five years later, they had their forever home. 

“Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, of love and of thought, which, in the course of centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved.”

André Malraux – quote printed on the walls that wrap around the circulation desk at Wilshire Branch library

Recommended Reading

+Wilshire Branch’s NRHP nomination form

+A Brief Wilshire Branch Library History (LAPL)

+Hand Book of the Branch Libraries (Los Angeles Public Library, 1928) (PDF)