One of Los Angeles’s most beloved cultural landmarks is turning 100, and the city is throwing a party to match. The Los Angeles Central Library celebrated its centennial with a special festival on Saturday, marking a full century of serving readers, learners, and community members across the region.

The milestone event offered Angelenos a chance to honor an institution that has stood at the heart of downtown Los Angeles for a hundred years. The Central Library, with its stunning Bertram Goodhue-designed building and iconic rotunda, has long been more than just a place to borrow books — it is a gathering place, a resource hub, and a cultural treasure for the entire city.

The centennial festival brought the community together to recognize everything the library has meant to generations of Los Angeles residents. From children discovering their first stories to adults pursuing lifelong learning, the Central Library has been a constant and welcoming presence through a century of change in the city.

The celebration is a reminder of just how much a great public library can mean to a community — and how, a hundred years on, the Los Angeles Central Library continues to be a place where curiosity, creativity, and connection thrive. Here’s to the next hundred years.

Sources: Patch