Los Angeles Central Library

The Los Angeles Central Library, at 630 West 5th Street on Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles, California, opened in 1926 and was designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, who died in 1924 before its completion, with Carleton Winslow completing the work. The building is a landmark of Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival design, with a pyramid-tiled tower topped with a hand-painted mosaic of the sun, a symbol of illumination. Its exterior is decorated with sculpture by Lee Lawrie, including inscriptions and allegorical figures, and the rotunda murals by Dean Cornwell, painted in the 1930s, depict the history of California from Spanish exploration through to American settlement. On April 29, 1986, a fire, later determined to be arson, burned for more than seven hours and damaged much of the collection and the building, destroying around 400,000 books and damaging about 700,000 more. A second fire followed in September of that year. The library closed for several years, and a restoration and expansion project designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, including the Tom Bradley Wing and a landscaped Maguire Gardens, reopened the library in 1993 after a public campaign and the Los Angeles Conservancy's advocacy. The Goodhue building is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The interior includes the Children's Literature Department, the Getty Gallery, and the Mark Taper Auditorium, plus a notable atrium with a large chandelier and a ceiling of painted designs. The library also has a research collection, special collections and exhibit areas. The curatorial approach combines a working civic library with architecture appreciation, and the Los Angeles Public Library and Library Foundation offer public tours of the building on selected days. The surrounding Maguire Gardens include fountains and public art, making the grounds an easy stop in a Bunker Hill itinerary.