The year that just passed was a dark one for independent media.

Newspapers were being bought, media companies were laying off journalists, and independent news organizations were closing down, announcements were being made almost daily. When Angel City Press co-founders Paddy Calistro and Scott McCauley announced they were retiring from the publishing company they'd run for more than 30 years, it sounded like another sad story in 2023.

But LA's educational institutions had a surprising plan. In an unprecedented move, a publishing company dedicated to celebrating Los Angeles' rich cultural history is being acquired by the Los Angeles Public Library.

On December 16, LAPL, the fifth largest public library system in the United States, announced the acquisition of the news organization with donations from Mr. Calistro and Mr. McCauley. The organization will now be known as the Los Angeles Public Library's Angel City Press.

The news organization publishes five to eight books a year, with eight books scheduled to be published in 2024.editorial director Terry AcomazzoHe, who joined the company as an intern in 2007 and has been in the role full-time since 2018, will remain in the role, ensuring a level of continuity under the Literary System umbrella.

“I can't believe this is happening because it's so right,” Calistro said.

LAPL manages 73 branches, has a collection of more than 8 million books, and these days is much more ambitious than the average big-city library system. Actively developing special collections in recent years. But acquiring an entire printing press takes the system to a whole new level.

John F. Szabo, Los Angeles City Library Director since 2012, said this is a unique step not just for LAPL but for any public library system.

“I'm not aware of any independent publishers becoming part of public libraries across the country,” Szabo said by phone. He served under three of his mayors and has been a librarian for over 30 years.

LAPL is not the first library system to have its own printing press. The Library of Congress Press publishes books through the Library of Congress Book Program. 2016, New York Public Library launched its own imprint He publishes five books a year and celebrates all that libraries do for New Yorkers.

There are broader connections between libraries and publishers. Assn. Research Library work closely with Assn. University Press To share information and opportunities. But the acquisition of LAPL speaks to a unique relationship with Angel City Press.

“The reason this made sense from the beginning is because the missions of these two organizations are the same,” Calistro said. We always want to preserve the history of Los Angeles and let people read about it, and that's what the library does. ”

Josh Kun's three books, including To Live and Dine in LA, are the result of a collaboration between Angel City Press and the LA Public Library, which now runs the publishing house.

(Angel City Press)

Founded in Santa Monica in 1992, Angel City began with a wide range of projects ranging from Betty Goodwin's Hollywood du Jour: The Lost Recipes of Legendary Hollywood Ghosts (1993) to DJ Waldy's Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and Sense of Place” (2020). The publisher also has existing partnerships with Los Angeles educational institutions through the Huntington Library Press.

Although the acquisition of LAPL has been in the works for several years, the two organizations have collaborated frequently for more than a decade.

In 2013, Angel City Press partnered with the library system to publish “Songs in the Key of Los Angeles” by Josh Kun. The bulk of the book's source material comes from the Library's Southern California Sheet Music Collection, assembled with support from LAPL.

This begins a trilogy of sorts by Kuhn, followed by Living and Eating in LA: Menus and the Making of a Modern City (2015), followed by The Autograph Book of LA (2019). Completed. Angel City has also published a book about the library itself, The Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture, by Arnold Schwartzman and Stephen Gee.

“We preserve stories and we tell stories,” Szabo said. “We are committed to preserving Los Angeles' history and are excited to tell the untold stories of Los Angeles and Angelenos. That's why Angel City Press is committed to preserving the history of Los Angeles and excited to tell the untold stories of Los Angeles and Angelenos. , which is exactly what we have been doing through the publication of well-researched books.”

The Los Angeles Public Library's Angel City Press serves as LAPL's publishing arm, allowing it to continue that mission. “It's about spreading the word, getting people to know more, discovering more, and getting the word out about the history of LA and Southern California,” Szabo said.

Does the fact that LAPL runs a publishing office mean that the library is getting into the bookselling business? Will books by Angel City authors be sold at the library?

Absolutely not. “We're obviously going to be interested in selling the book as well as possible,” Szabo said. “But we do not intend to undermine the library's fundamental mission, which is to provide free and easy access to the content on our bookshelves. We do not intend to sacrifice that mission. We operate Angel City Press. But we're not going to buy 500 copies of every title and put them in every branch library. That's not wise. That's not what good libraries do.”

A view of the globe chandelier in the rotunda of the Los Angeles Central Library. Home of city library director John Sabo.

(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)

Szabo quickly told me that LAPL publishes more e-books and e-audiobooks than any other library in North America. Providing free and easy access to books will remain the library's core mission.

Meanwhile, Angel City Press will continue under the direction of Accomazzo, who already oversees editorial input, book design, printing and proofreading.

“It's important to have people with that ability and expertise,” Szabo says of Acomazzo's leadership. “I'm so happy that she's going to provide it for the press when they come. It's a really nice bridge.”

Szabo does not intend to prioritize books from the press, which represents about 100 authors, on library shelves, but will introduce new and existing books through special events and programs where it makes sense. I'm sure there will be opportunities to promote the work. .

But, of course, he has his personal Angel City favorites.

Naturally, he's partial to Los Angeles Central Library, for which he wrote the foreword, but he's also a big fan of Lynelle George's A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler . About the groundbreaking work of the late science fiction writer who lived in Pasadena for many years.

Szabo has lots of ideas for how to bring both news organizations and libraries together on new initiatives, such as publishing materials for children and producing digital content in other languages, but for now he has some good news. We're happy to share and focus on smoothing your transition. One.

“We’re always thinking of creative ways to tell our stories and share them with others,” he says.

Ruland is the author of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records and the novel Make It Stop.