Memorial Branch

Memorial Branch
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #81
Memorial Branch, 2008
Location:	4645 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, California
Coordinates:	34°3′22″N 118°23′7″W / 34.05611°N 118.38528°W / 34.05611; -118.38528Coordinates: 34°3′22″N 118°23′7″W / 34.05611°N 118.38528°W / 34.05611; -118.38528
Built:	1930
Architect:	Austin, John C.
Architectural style:	Gothic Revival
Governing body:	Local
MPS:	Los Angeles Branch Library System TR
NRHP Reference#:	87001015[1]
LAHCM #:	81
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	May 19, 1987
Designated LAHCM:	1971-04-07[2]

Memorial Branch is a branch library of the Los Angeles Public Library. It was built in 1930 based on a Gothic Revival design by architect John C. Austin, also noted as the lead architect of the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. The library includes a large heraldic work of stained glass created by the artists at Judson Studios.

In 1987, the Memorial Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of a thematic group submission.^[3] The application noted that the branch libraries had been constructed in a variety of period revival styles to house the initial branch library system of the City of Los Angeles. In the movie, Bedtime Stories, starring Adam Sandler, this library serves as the children's elementary school.

The Library underwent a major restoration in the mid-1990s, reopening in 1996. The library relocated to office space near John Burroughs Middle School in the interim.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the Wilshire and Westlake areas
• Los Angeles Public Library

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ http://preservation.lacity.org/monuments
3. ^ The Los Angeles Branch Library System TR Multiple Property Submission nomination explains 22 branch libraries but one, the University Branch, appears not to have been listed.

External links

• Carol Easton, "Library in the park," WESTWAYS, September 1977
• History of the Memorial Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library
• Memorial Library 40-year anniversary, 1930-1970
• Letter, June 1930, from Judson Studios explaining Alumni memorial window
• Facts about the library and its memorial window, designed and built by the Judson Studios
• Dedication of Memorial Library and Window
• Press release, Historic Memorial Branch Library to reopen Monday, July 22: Renovated building features latest in advanced technology with Weingart Foundation grant
• Suzan Filipek, "1926 Memorial Library to open virtually on-line," Larchmont Chronicle, July 1996
• Branch building questionnaire: Annual Report 1939/40, Memorial Branch