In a historic move, the Los Angeles Public Library has acquired publishing house Angel City Press.
First announced in December, Angel City’s retiring co-founders Paddy Calistro and Scott McAuley donated the publishing house they had run for over 30 years to the library system. It will now be called Angel City Press at the Los Angeles Public Library.
“Angel City Press is joining the Los Angeles Public Library!” the publishing house announced in an Instagram post. “Co-founders Paddy Calistro and Scott McAuley have gifted Angel City Press to the Los Angeles Public Library system, where it will continue to publish books exploring LA’s rich history under the guidance of Editorial Director Terri Accomazzo.”
The move sees the incorporation of a publishing house known for its celebration of local L.A. culture into one of the largest library systems in the country.
LAPL’s acquisition of the publishing house follows the forays of other large public libraries into publishing as an extension of preserving culture. The New York Public Library previously launched a partnership with Macmillan to publish books celebrating New York City libraries in 2016, and the Library of Congress operates publishing services through its Library of Congress Books program.
Founded in 1992, Angel City Press specializes in publishing “high-quality nonfiction books,” and has a catalog of 42 published so far. It also distributes select titles from the Huntington Library Press.
The LAPL holds over six million books and operates 72 branches across Los Angeles.
