Update, April 22: You Have Been Heard! The $1-per-book inter-branch charge has been taken off the table as a way of dealing with the Library's budget crisis, and it's largely thanks to the hundred of wonderful emails sent through this website. Click here for more info.
Keep watching this site for more news of threats to the Library as the City budget is worked out, and ways you can speak up about how important a well funded Library is to the people of Los Angeles.
LAPL is sitting on incredible resources, and we believe that with creative thinking and the support of its members, it can begin generating whatever extra income it needs without taking essential services away from the most vulnerable members of the community. Here are a few ideas. Now tell us yours!
We also urge you to click here to see feedback on these suggestions from Fontayne Holmes, our City Librarian, and a way for library lovers to donate directly to a special fund created to buy new books.
Image Bank:In addition to its extensive photo archive, LAPL has many other special collections, including vintage travel posters, maps, bookplates, menus and Japan prints, quite a few of which are in the public domain. By following the New York Public Library's model, LAPL can expand its reproduction services beyond the photos currently offered to include these other dynamic visual collections.
Special Events: The Central Library already hosts the popular ALOUD and Zócalo Public Square Lecture Series at no cost to the community. But it could also use its lecture hall to present paid events that would provide income. These might include film screenings, concerts, lectures, readings and theatrical performances.
Naming Rights: In return for a generous donation from a corporation or individual, a library department or database could be sponsored and named after the donor.
Paid Research Assistance: A valuable and lucrative service which LAPL might offer is one similar to that provided by NYPL Express, where companies and individuals with reference questions pay an hourly rate for research assistance. LAPL can also make its existing document delivery service more visible and more convenient for library users by advertising it on the library homepage, and allowing people to place their orders online.
