Sooner or later after the Los Angeles Public Library celebrated John Szabo as librarian of the 12 months, the LA wildfires erupted. Mr. Szabo and his employees rapidly pivoted to discovering methods of serving to hundreds of people that had misplaced their houses.
The library swung into motion by visiting shelters to offer loaner laptops, Wi-Fi scorching spots, and cellphone recharging cables.
Why We Wrote This
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Librarians have confronted challenges from e-book bans to pure disasters. We caught up with the 2025 librarian of the 12 months, who leads the Los Angeles Public Library, in regards to the wildfires and about why libraries are wanted now greater than ever.
The Los Angeles metropolis library system serves the biggest inhabitants of any public library in america. The award, which was given by Library Journal, acknowledges the group outreach packages which have flourished below Mr. Szabo’s management.
He speaks in regards to the persevering with significance of libraries. “Our collections symbolize all voices. That’s actually vital, now greater than ever. Persons are hungry for establishments like that.”
Los Angeles Public Library director John Szabo had no time to have fun. A day after he was named 2025 librarian of the 12 months, the Eaton and Palisades fires erupted in his beloved metropolis. That very same day, Jan. 7, the Palisades Department Library burned – one among greater than 12,000 houses, faculties, and different buildings destroyed in the most costly pure catastrophe in California historical past.
For Mr. Szabo, it’s not the misplaced books, art work, and even constructing. His focus is on the hundreds of households in his group who misplaced their houses and need assistance. He and his employees are distributing every part from water to energy packs and cell Wi-Fi scorching spots, and deploying outreach automobiles and social staff to assist the newly homeless individuals. And naturally, they’re freely giving books.
“What retains me awake at night time is the sheer quantity of alternative that our libraries need to do good locally,” says Mr. Szabo (pronounced ZAY-bo) in a telephone interview. “We’ve misplaced the constructing, however not our dedication in offering library providers to that group.”
Why We Wrote This
A narrative targeted on
Librarians have confronted challenges from e-book bans to pure disasters. We caught up with the 2025 librarian of the 12 months, who leads the Los Angeles Public Library, in regards to the wildfires and about why libraries are wanted now greater than ever.
That assertion is typical of Mr. Szabo’s strategy to operating a corporation that serves the biggest inhabitants of any library system in america. His community-mindedness helped win him the award from Library Journal.
It’s “humbling and an excellent honor,” says Mr. Szabo, who received his begin at age 16 as a library clerk on a U.S. Air Power base. It’s additionally a “recognition of the work of our employees for his or her creativity and innovation.” For Mr. Szabo, the announcement comes at a crucial second for libraries.
Within the interview, he describes his imaginative and prescient for the library that “extends past the partitions of its 73 areas.” The fires are yet one more alternative to creatively meet the wants of the group.
The interview has been edited and condensed.
What does it imply to lose a department library, and the way is the library system making ready to fulfill people in want throughout this time?
It’s emotional. I’ve been to that library many instances. The Palisades library is one among 73 department libraries with an exquisite employees. I do know 9 members of my employees to date who’ve misplaced their houses. It’s devastating. It’s a tragic factor to lose the bodily area, however years of reminiscences on these partitions are all gone now.
Our Palisades library is totally destroyed. The recreation and park division arrange camps for households with youngsters, and our outreach groups are there.
We’re distributing charging cables and energy packs to people in shelters. We’re giving books away. We’re additionally circulating laptops and ordering cell Wi-Fi scorching spots for people. We have already got social staff on employees to assist individuals going through homelessness discover providers, so we’ve been in a position to make the most of these social staff within the shelters to offer help. One shelter doesn’t have Wi-Fi, so our outreach car drives there every day to offer it. These are all artistic methods we’re attempting to serve people from the library.
This occasion solely solidifies our dedication to outreach. As metropolis librarian, I’m grateful for our outreach workforce – they have been already on prime of it. However even when we didn’t have an outreach workforce, automobiles, or a bilingual employees, we might nonetheless be out within the shelters attempting to deal with this want.
In your 12 years as director of the Los Angeles Public Library, you’ve championed a number of initiatives just like the annual LA Libros Pageant – now in its seventh 12 months. You additionally championed the Profession On-line Excessive Faculty, which noticed its 1,000th scholar graduate from its on-line program final 12 months. What drives you to champion these causes for Angelenos, and the way does that align with the mission of the library?
The library’s mission is to empower individuals, present entry, and to ensure we’re serving everybody locally. When an grownup can get a highschool diploma and their children can attend their commencement on the library, it’s a robust assertion that opens doorways for households and proves that they’ll do that. We’re a giant system, and lots of our metrics are within the tens of millions. This is without doubt one of the smallest metrics that we have now, nevertheless it’s some of the highly effective.
A number of years in the past, our employees actually noticed a have to have a family-focused occasion, which means all ages and with a particular deal with children. It will be a Spanish-language e-book pageant with Spanish-English bilingual parts too – they usually did it. It was all staff-organized, staff-initiated, staff-led, and it’s been a wild success. It’s not solely offering unbelievable programming, nevertheless it additionally sends a message to everyone in LA that the library is for them and we have fun their tradition.
I’m additionally actually pleased with our New Individuals Initiative and the seven New Individuals Facilities in our libraries which might be offering all of the providers that assist immigrants in LA get the knowledge that they should perceive what their rights are and to take step one on the trail to citizenship. It’s nice for them individually but in addition nice for the town and state.
Wanting forward, what are some potential challenges or alternatives for public libraries?
We stay very a lot about books and making data out there to all individuals. However I believe public libraries will develop into far more proactive and engaged with the group. We’re already doing unbelievable work from early childhood literacy to immigrant integration.
Libraries want to speak our message extra successfully. We’re not a static establishment. We’re continually evolving, altering, and adapting to fulfill group wants.
One other problem is that this nationwide rising development of e-book challenges, and this problem to the idea and worth of mental freedom. All libraries are going to have issues that may be offensive to you. I’m sure there are issues on the cabinets of our public library which might be deeply offensive to me, however I’m not taking them off the shelf or hindering anybody’s means to entry them. Public libraries are of service to and helpful to individuals of each political persuasion and background.
Our collections symbolize all voices. That’s actually vital, now greater than ever. Persons are hungry for establishments like that. A spot that genuinely and actually speaks to symbolize our voices is extremely vital in a really divided time.
