THE LIGHT OF LEARNING: An Illustrated History...

THE LIGHT OF LEARNING: An Illustrated History of the Los Angeles Public Library by Bernadette Dominique Soter (Library Foundation of Los Angeles, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles 90071: $25; 111 pp., paperback original). This large-format volume traces the growth of the institution from the founding of the Library Assn. in 1872 to the present. Soter uses historic photographs and colorful anecdotes to bring old Los Angeles to life: In 1908, the library was housed in Bamberger’s department store--on the same floor as carpets and furniture; Charles Lummis, who founded the city’s important Western collections, used a branding iron to mark books. During the postwar era, the problems of providing intellectual resources grew with the city’s population. Only a generation ago, Angelenos believed they could provide library service to every citizen within one mile of his residence; in the present era of shrinking resources, the people of Southern California are forced to accept much less.