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     To honor the graduates and under-graduates of the school who took part in the World War, in 1922 the students voted to buy the acreage across the street, a plot of ground approximately 315 by 350 feet, to be used as a memorial park.  The students at that time contributed about $6,000, an average of $2.00 per student.  The total cost of the acreage was about $21,000 and the remainder of the amount above the individual contributions was taken from the Student Body treasurer.  Because of the fact that neither the Student Body nor the Board of Education can legally hold ground as a park the land was turned over to the Park Commission with the understanding that the City of Los Angeles would landscape the ground and keep it in perpetuity as a park.

     In 1923, the land on which the library now stands was purchased by the student body and alumni association of Los Angeles High School, and deeded to the City of Los Angeles in commemoration of twenty alumni who died in World War I. Six years later, the city gave the Los Angeles Public Library the right to establish a branch on the site.

     The library formally opened on April 29, 1930. The architectural firm Austin and Ashley designed the building in a picturesque English Tudor style to harmonize with the high school building across Olympic Boulevard, which they also designed. The students of Los Angeles High School commissioned a stained glass window with the names of the twenty alumni and an inscription stating hope for “peace among nations.” The window, designed by the renowned Judson Art Studio, was inspired by those in the Parliament Building of London and was installed in the adult reading room.