{"id":412567,"date":"2026-07-26T03:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412567\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:17:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:17:18","slug":"los-angeles-public-library-unveils-the-worlds-largest-pop-up-book-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412567\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Public Library Unveils the World’s Largest Pop-Up Book \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The iconic Art Deco architecture of Los Angeles\u2019 Richard J. Riordan Central Library houses more than 10 million items<\/a>, making it the third largest library in the country. The institution also celebrates its centennial this year. So, what better way to ring in a new century of reading and learning than with the largest pop-up book ever created?<\/p>\n

Commissioned by the\u00a0Library Foundation of Los Angeles\u00a0in partnership with the\u00a0Los Angeles Public Library, L.A.-based artist and printmaker\u00a0Daniel Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>\u00a0conceived of a monumental ode to knowledge, discovery, and imagination. \u201cLuceros y Penumbras\u201d also nods to the building\u2019s history, taking pride of place in the elegant rotunda surrounded by Dean Cornwell\u2019s murals<\/a>, which depict California history and were completed in 1933.<\/p>\n

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With an assist from paper engineer\u00a0Matthew Reinhart<\/a>, the project even surpassed the previous Guinness World Record for largest pop-up book by spanning approximately 31 by 20 feet when open (the previous record-holder\u2019s dimensions were about 29 by 18 feet). The design rises to more than 11 feet tall, and overall, it weighs nearly a ton. It\u2019s also made from materials customarily used to produce standard books, like fabric, paper, and adhesive.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez draws on his own memories and associations with Los Angeles and the library\u2019s role as a beacon, the \u201clight of learning.\u201d One of the spreads is centered around a large tree with the city skyline in the background and motifs that represent its diverse cultures, ecology, and traditions. The second depicts the facade of the L.A. Central Library along with the bilingual inclusion of the phrase, \u201cEach person is a library.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLuceros y Penumbras\u201d is on view alongside gems from the library\u2019s Toy Moveable Collection\u2014an archive that consists of more than 2,000 pop-up books and objects\u2014until November 2026.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/a><\/p>\n

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

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Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The iconic Art Deco architecture of Los Angeles\u2019 Richard J. Riordan Central Library houses more than 10 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1853,165192,48,52,51,47,50,49,165193,9913],"class_list":["post-412567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-architecture","tag-daniel-gonzalez","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-matthew-reinhart","tag-pop-ups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}