We visited the 64th branch (of 72 branches) of LAPL! Little Tokyo Branch Library is in downtown Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Little Tokyo. It’s near City Hall, the Japanese American National Museum, Pershing Square, Grand Park and Union Station. Did you know that there are only three official Japantowns in the US? In San Francisco, San Jose, and right here in Los Angeles.
This library is very inviting. The children’s section is full of natural light!
Riley loved this branch, and we will definitely be returning for Storytime.
I read to her, G read to her. . . and she played everywhere.
We got some books to take home . . . mostly in English, but we took home some in Japanese! (I can still read a little hiragana, but it’s been years since I studied Japanese at UCSC at part of my Language Studies major and then lived in Japan as part of the JET Program many years ago). In any case. . . books in any language are amazing!
What Is Light? by Markette Sheppard and illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson;
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (in English and in Japanese);
Hello Kitty at 40 A Celebration in 40 Stories (Plus one for good luck) Foreword by Jennifer L and Matthew Holm;
I Used To Be Afraid by Laura Vaccaro Seeger;
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood The Poetry of Mister Rogers Lyrics by Fred Rogers, illustrations by Luke Flowers;
Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora;
Tree of Cranes by Allen Say;
Tondemonai とんでもない by Susuki Noritake (in Japanese);
I Wish It Would Snow! by Sarah Dillard;
Class Three at Sea by Julia Jarman, illustrations by Lynne Chapman;
Magic Ramen; The Story of Momofuku Ando written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz;
Tap The Magic Tree by Christie Matheson.
Each book brought joy. Even if we couldn’t read all of the Japanese. . . we made up our own story with the pictures! I can’t wait to see what books we bring home from our next library visit!
When you are in DTLA, and in Little Tokyo – visit the Little Tokyo Branch Library! You won’t regret it. And maybe you can attend a storytime, class or club! There are so many events taking place. . .
There is even an event called UnHeard LA sponsored by the public radio station KPCC in Little Tokyo. . . (not at the branch, but nearby).
Thanks as always, LAPL!
I can’t believe we don’t have that many branches left to visit. . .
