Vermont Square Branch
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Vermont Square Branch
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Vermont Square Branch, May 2008
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| Location | 1201 W. 48th Street, Los Angeles, California |
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| Coordinates | 33°59′59″N 118°17′42″W / 33.99972°N 118.29500°WCoordinates: 33°59′59″N 118°17′42″W / 33.99972°N 118.29500°W |
| Built | 1913 |
| Architect |
Sumner Hunt Silas Reese Burns |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival, Mediterranean Revival, other late 19th and 20th century revivals |
| MPS | Los Angeles Branch Library System TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 87001022 |
| LAHCM # | 264 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 7, 1987 |
| Designated LAHCM | June 7, 1983 |
Vermont Square Branch is the oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library system. Located about a mile southwest of the University of Southern California campus, in the Vermont Square district, it was built in 1913 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. One of three surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles, it has been designated a Historic-Cultural Monument and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Vermont Square Branch was designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument (#264) by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in June 1983 as the oldest remaining library in the city system. In 1987, the Lincoln Heights Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of a thematic group submission. The application noted that the branch libraries had been constructed in a variety of period revival styles to house the initial branch library system of the City of Los Angeles. With respect to the Vermont Branch, the application described the building as "a one-story structure designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival and Mediterranean Revival style with Prairie style proportions." It rests on a raised foundation and is topped by a red tile roof supported by broad overhanging eaves. The symmetrical facade is divided into three sections with the center portion protruding slightly. The center portion is fronted with terra cotta blocks with geometric patterns reminiscent of Classical motifs. The entry is located on a landing midway up the stairs. The top half of the staircase is located inside the building. Both wings are horizontally divided with two different facing materials. Cream-colored glazed brick covers the exterior walls below the window sills. Long vertical windows are arranged high on the walls, grouped in bands of five on either side of the entry.
The Vermont Square Branch opened in March 1913 as the first library building built by the City of Los Angeles. It is the oldest branch library in the city and was the first of six branch libraries built with a $210,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. When the library opened, the 2,000 new books which were ready for circulation did not come close to filling the shelves that were planned to accommodate 16,000 volumes. A history of the branch's early years describes the opening this way:
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