Skip to main content

Image / Library's charging desk, Metropolitan Building

Have a question about this item?

Item information. View source record on contributor's website.

Title
Library's charging desk, Metropolitan Building
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Public Library Legacy Photo Collection
Date Created and/or Issued
1926
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.
The Metropolitan Building, located on 6th and Hill streets, was built in 1913 by architects John Parkinson and G. Edwin Bergstrom, and was demolished in the late 1960s. Other locations where the Los Angeles Public Library has been housed: 17 years in the Downey Block Building (1872-1889); 17 years in City Hall (1889-1906); 2 years in the Homer Laughlin Building (1906-1908); 6 years in the Hamburger Building (1908-1914); 12 years in the Metropolitan Building (1914-1926); 60 years in the Central Library Building* (1926-1986); *Closed to the public due to devastating fire (1986-1987); 6 years in the Los Angeles Design Center/Title Insurance + Trust Company (1987-1993); Central Library Building (1993-Present).
View of the Los Angeles Public Library's "main floor" (possibly the 8th floor), located in the Metropolitan Building. A large charging desk, in an inverted "U", is positioned toward the front of the room, and a long processing counter sits in the middle of this area. Usually buzzing with patrons, the library was completely empty when the photograph was taken, but the wall clock reads 10:34, which means the library had probably already closed. The Literature Department can be seen in the background behind the column on the right, and the Art Department is visible directly above it, along the upper floor (possibly the Metropolitan's 9th floor). This was the library's 5th home, from 1914-1926. Photograph dated: June 16, 1926.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00078956
Los Angeles Public Library Legacy Collection
C-5(557)
CARL0000080223
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/111571
Subject
Los Angeles Public Library
Metropolitan Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Library shelving--California--Los Angeles
Libraries--California--Los Angeles
Parkinson, John,1861-1935
Bergstrom, G. E.(George Edwin),1876-1955

About the collections in Calisphere

Learn more about the collections in Calisphere. View our statement on digital primary resources.

Copyright, permissions, and use

If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.

Share your story

Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.

Explore related content on Calisphere: