History
The Willowbrook Library occupies a very special place in the history of
the County of Los Angeles Public Library. The Los Angeles County Free
Library, as it was then called, was founded September 5, 1912. On Christmas
Eve Day, 1912, the County Librarian received a petition from the residents
of the Willowbrook Community, requesting that Willowbrook have the first
County branch library. This petition was followed up with a long distance
call from Mrs. Belle Jenks offering her services and her home for the
purpose. Both offers were accepted and on April 23, 1913, Willowbrook
opened as the first branch library of the Los Angeles County Public Library
with an initial shipment of 50 books. The library was open for 2 days in
April 1913 and circulated 18 books. In July 1919, the library was moved
to a room in the Post Office at rental of $20.00 a month (later reduced
during the Depression to $15.00 a month). In 1950, a library was built on
El Segundo Boulevard but was damaged by fire during the 1965 Watts riots.
Rebuilt with community donations and dedicated in June 1966, Willowbrook
Library served the community at the El Segundo location until the library was
relocated to its present location in 1987.
Collection
The current collection includes 32,579 books, 45 magazine and
newspaper subscriptions, 2,927 audio recordings and 3,471 video recordings.
The library offers materials in English and Spanish.
Services
The Willowbrook Library provides basic library services to the residents
of Watts-Willowbrook, an unincorporated area in South Central Los Angeles.
Services available are basic reference services, a public access Internet
workstation and children's programs.
Facilities
This 2,200 square foot building is located in the gated Kenneth Hahn Shopping
Plaza near the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital.
Political Representatives
Local Links
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Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
URL: http://www.cdrewu.edu/
Includes admissions, financial aid, library, campus news and events, College of Allied Health and College of Medicine
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Compton Unified School District
URL: http://www.compton.k12.ca.us/
Information about the school district serving Compton, Carson, Enterprise, South Los Angeles and Willowbrook. Información en Español.
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Martin Luther King/Charles R. Drew Medical Center
URL: http://www.ladhs.org/mlk/
History, executive and medical staff, and links to Los Angeles Department of Health Services. Also, includes list of local health clinics.
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The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia
URL: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=613
Tours, history, location and general description of the Watts Towers.
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