Lomita Library

History

The Los Angeles County Free Library was a little over a year old when the Lomita community applied for service. A branch was established in a local clubhouse in June 1914 with 232 books which were mostly donated, 14 registered card holders, and a volunteer custodian in charge of the library.

By 1918 its original quarters were outgrown, and a storefront room was rented in the Smith building at Lomita Boulevard and Narbonne Avenue. This was the library's home for the next ten years.

In 1928 the library was moved to a 1,000 square foot building that remained in service for thirty two years.

In 1960 the library was moved to larger quarters which was formerly the Pioneer Press building.

On April 10, 1976, the Lomita Library was dedicated as part of the new city civic center and became permanently established in the community.

Collection

The collection includes 57,085 adult and children's books; 19 magazines and newspapers; 4,944 audiocassettes and 6,336 videocassettes. The adult and children's non-fiction books are interfiled. There is a large print collection and separate mystery, science fiction and western fiction collections.

Services

The library offers general Reference service, readers' advisory, online library catalogs that provide access to the entire County Library collection as well as access to online reference databases and public access Internet computers. There are children's programs, including weekly pre-school and monthly family story times. A coin-operated photocopy machine with enlargement capability is available for public use.

Facilities

County owned 7,500 square feet single story facility, within a civic center complex. Spacious back parking lot with parking spaces for 75 cars, Handicapped parking and access are available.