by Louise Steinman and Maureen Moore and others
FROM: Los Angeles Times
To the editor: Library Foundation President Kenneth Brecher claims the ALOUD series was “stagnating”; we believe the 25-year record — to the present — of cultural and literary programming at the Los Angeles Public Library speaks for itself.
By Kenneth Brecher
From: Los Angeles Times
If you believe recent reports, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ ALOUD program, where literati come to see important authors interviewed about their works, is doomed.
Continue reading “Why the Los Angeles Public Library’s ALOUD Program Has to Change”
By Jen Hofer and Antena
FROM: L.A. Review of Books Blog
To Ken Brecher and the Staff and Board Members of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles:
The two collectives I co-founded, Antena and Antena Los Ángeles, recently received an invitation to participate in the upcoming Mobile Museum Fair that the Library Foundation of Los Angeles is organizing at the Los Angeles Public Library in January 2019. In the wake of the unjust and as yet unexplained firings of Maureen Moore and Louise Steinman from their positions as Associate Director and Director of the ALOUD series respectively, and the unanswered calls for accountability on the part of Ken Brecher and the LFLA Board, I am writing to inform you unequivocally that neither Antena nor Antena Los Ángeles will work with LFLA until this matter is resolved in an ethical, respectful and transparent way — as not just Maureen and Louise but also the many communities who love both the ALOUD series and the amazing beloved Los Angeles Public Library deserve.
Continue reading “An Open Letter to Ken Brecher and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles”
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the reopening of the Los Angeles Central Library after a cataclysmic fire and phoenix-like rebirth. It is also the 25th anniversary of ALOUD, the library’s landmark program of conversations and performances that has played a crucial role in reviving the image of the city center as a cultural destination Continue reading “Speaking up for ALOUD at the Central Library”
By Rigoberto González
From: Los Angeles Times
On Sept. 20, I had the pleasure of interviewing Native American writer Tommy Orange on the stage for ALOUD, a lecture series at the Los Angeles Public Library, and I hope that the audience in attendance benefited from our exchange. Our banter was friendly, and there were a few chuckles during the evening so I know that we were, at the very least, entertaining. The book-signing line was lengthy and the brief interactions we had with the book buyers were generous and appreciative. After the last book was signed, Tommy and I embraced and said our goodbyes, promising to remain in touch. But despite how smoothly the entire evening went, something was not quite right. Perhaps it was the guns.
From: Los Angeles Times
More than 800 authors, readers and other literary Angelenos have signed a petition sent to the board of directors of the Library Foundation, along with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, raising concerns about the future of its ALOUD reading series following the dismissal of ALOUD’s founder Louise Steinman and associate director Maureen Moore.
Continue reading “More than 800 sign petition questioning ALOUD changes”
From: Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles literary landscape shifted significantly this week with the departure of Louise Steinman from ALOUD, the reading series based at the downtown Central Library that she founded and ran for 25 years.
A representative of the Library Foundation confirmed the departure of Steinman and ALOUD associate director Maureen Moore, who was the driving force behind the rotunda exhibit “Visualizing Language” by Oaxacan artists that gained international attention.
Los Angeles Literature 