One day after the Los Angeles Public Library celebrated John Szabo as librarian of the year, the LA wildfires erupted. Mr. Szabo and his staff quickly pivoted to finding ways of helping thousands of people who had lost their homes.
The library swung into action by visiting shelters to provide loaner laptops, Wi-Fi hot spots, and cellphone recharging cables.
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Librarians have faced challenges from book bans to natural disasters. We caught up with the 2025 librarian of the year, who leads the Los Angeles Public Library, about the wildfires and about why libraries are needed now more than ever.
The Los Angeles city library system serves the largest population of any public library in the United States. The award, which was given by Library Journal, recognizes the community outreach programs that have flourished under Mr. Szabo’s leadership.
He speaks about the continuing importance of libraries. “Our collections represent all voices. That’s really important, now more than ever. People are hungry for institutions like that.”
Los Angeles Public Library director John Szabo had no time to celebrate. A day after he was named 2025 librarian of the year, the Eaton and Palisades fires erupted in his beloved city. That same day, Jan. 7, the Palisades Branch Library burned – one of more than 12,000 homes, schools, and other buildings destroyed in the most expensive natural disaster in California history.
For Mr. Szabo, it’s not the lost books, artwork, or even building. His focus is on the thousands of families in his community who lost their homes and need help. He and his staff are distributing everything from water to power packs and mobile Wi-Fi hot spots, and deploying outreach vehicles and social workers to help the newly homeless people. And of course, they are giving away books.
“What keeps me awake at night is the sheer amount of opportunity that our libraries have to do good in the community,” says Mr. Szabo (pronounced ZAY-bo) in a phone interview. “We’ve lost the building, but not our commitment in providing library services to that community.”
Why We Wrote This
A story focused on
Librarians have faced challenges from book bans to natural disasters. We caught up with the 2025 librarian of the year, who leads the Los Angeles Public Library, about the wildfires and about why libraries are needed now more than ever.
That statement is typical of Mr. Szabo’s approach to running an organization that serves the largest population of any library system in the United States. His community-mindedness helped win him the award from Library Journal.
It’s “humbling and a great honor,” says Mr. Szabo, who got his start at age 16 as a library clerk on a U.S. Air Force base. It’s also a “recognition of the work of our staff for their creativity and innovation.” For Mr. Szabo, the announcement comes at a critical moment for libraries.
In the interview, he describes his vision for the library that “extends beyond the walls of its 73 locations.” The fires are yet another opportunity to creatively meet the needs of the community.
The interview has been edited and condensed.
What does it mean to lose a branch library, and how is the library system preparing to meet folks in need during this time?
It’s emotional. I’ve been to that library many times. The Palisades library is one of 73 branch libraries with a wonderful staff. I know nine members of my staff thus far who have lost their homes. It’s devastating. It’s a sad thing to lose the physical space, but years of memories on those walls are all gone now.
Our Palisades library is completely destroyed. The recreation and park department set up camps for families with children, and our outreach teams are there.
We’re distributing charging cables and power packs to folks in shelters. We’re giving books away. We’re also circulating laptops and ordering mobile Wi-Fi hot spots for individuals. We already have social workers on staff to help people facing homelessness find services, so we’ve been able to utilize those social workers in the shelters to provide assistance. One shelter doesn’t have Wi-Fi, so our outreach vehicle drives there on a daily basis to provide it. These are all creative ways we’re trying to serve folks from the library.
This event only solidifies our commitment to outreach. As city librarian, I’m thankful for our outreach team – they were already on top of it. But even if we didn’t have an outreach team, vehicles, or a bilingual staff, we would still be out in the shelters trying to address this need.
In your 12 years as director of the Los Angeles Public Library, you’ve championed several initiatives like the annual LA Libros Festival – now in its seventh year. You also championed the Career Online High School, which saw its 1,000th student graduate from its online program last year. What drives you to champion these causes for Angelenos, and how does that align with the mission of the library?
The library’s mission is to empower people, provide access, and to make sure we’re serving everyone in the community. When an adult can get a high school diploma and their kids can attend their graduation at the library, it’s a powerful statement that opens doors for families and proves that they can do this. We’re a big system, and a lot of our metrics are in the millions. This is one of the smallest metrics that we have, but it’s one of the most powerful.
Several years ago, our staff really saw a need to have a family-focused event, meaning all ages and with a special focus on kids. It would be a Spanish-language book festival with Spanish-English bilingual elements too – and they did it. It was all staff-organized, staff-initiated, staff-led, and it’s been a wild success. It’s not only providing incredible programming, but it also sends a message to everybody in LA that the library is for them and we celebrate their culture.
I’m also really proud of our New Americans Initiative and the seven New Americans Centers in our libraries that are providing all the services that help immigrants in LA get the information that they need to understand what their rights are and to take the first step on the path to citizenship. It’s great for them individually but also great for the city and state.
Looking ahead, what are some potential challenges or opportunities for public libraries?
We remain very much about books and making information available to all people. But I think public libraries will become much more proactive and engaged with the community. We’re already doing incredible work from early childhood literacy to immigrant integration.
Libraries need to communicate our message more effectively. We are not a static institution. We’re constantly evolving, changing, and adapting to meet community needs.
Another challenge is this national growing trend of book challenges, and this challenge to the concept and value of intellectual freedom. All libraries are going to have things that might be offensive to you. I’m certain there are things on the shelves of our public library that are deeply offensive to me, but I’m not taking them off the shelf or hindering anyone’s ability to access them. Public libraries are of service to and valuable to people of every political persuasion and background.
Our collections represent all voices. That’s really important, now more than ever. People are hungry for institutions like that. A place that genuinely and truly speaks to represent our voices is incredibly important in a very divided time.
