I Love LA
Recent headline in the NYT: “Why the LA Public Library Acquired a Book Publisher.” The owners of Angel City Press — a small, 32-year-old shop dedicated to LA-specific books that are “drenched in nostalgia but undeniably cool” (yessssss!) — were ready to retire so offered up the whole shebang to the local library system.
The Q+A with city librarian of Los Angeles John Szabo describes public libraries’ growing sphere of influence and responsibility (ie staff members are often trained on how to use Narcan in addition to the usual book- and research-related tasks) and where a place-specific press might fall into this list of amenities and services. He says, “While it’s certainly a small business, the press also feels to me like it’s an institution in Los Angeles, and one that has had a wonderful mission of publishing these just incredibly high-quality, wonderful, well-researched books about Los Angeles and Southern California… We really thought long and hard about it, and also thought about our mission and the library’s role. And it really seemed like a great fit, and like something that would help us do what we already do, and that is preserve and tell stories of Los Angeles and Southern California.”
It’s just as Randy Newman sings: I (too) Love LA. I was born there, and although I have no memory of actually living there (that said, I was delighted to have a piece in the Boston Globe a few years back about revisiting my first home with my mom!), the city is so unique and has always cast a spell on me. I love that a library that already serves as an important resource for historians (of both the armchair and credentialed variety) is continuing to help preserve this uniqueness in a different way.
But it’s also true that *every* place has its charms and unique quirks. Anne Helen Petersen (Culture Study) recently published a piece about the totally sanitized, could-be-anywhere “airspace” aesthetic. (Boring, yuck.) Maybe libraries acting as publishers is one way for these institutions to continue serving by preserving a place’s identity. Love to see it.
“Our story is the story of our place.” (Hannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry)
originally published on instagram