Los Angeles Public Library The Real MVP Of Good-Natured Sports Rivalries
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — When it comes to friendly sports rivalries on social media, the real MVP is the Los Angeles Public Library.
The LA Public Library has become famous for its friendly back-and-forth on social media with libraries whose cities happen to be battling Los Angeles teams on the field or the court. Keith Kesler, LAPL's social media librarian, says they were inspired by the Toronto Public Library, which in 2016 cheered on the Raptors with a series of photos of encouraging book titles during their post-season run.
But Los Angeles has seen a number of championship runs in the last few years, and the LA Public Library has beefed their way through through both a World Series Championship and an NBA Championship. This Sunday's game will be its second Super Bowl.
"I feel like our presence has inspired other libraries to do it," Kesler said. "It raises everybody's game a little bit."
The posts from the LA Public Library, one of the largest library systems in the country, are usually made up of several books with titles that just happen to string together an inspiring message for the sports rivalry of the moment. Kesler says the posts have occasionally been confused for reading lists.
Finding the books to strike just the right tone is both a library science and an art – specifically, poetry. Kesler has a degree in library science, so he knows where to go in the LA Public Library's voluminous holdings to find what he might need – the sports section for cliches, the mystery section to convey revenge, or the self-help section in the dreaded event of a team loss.
"A lot of it honestly is knowing which section of the library to go to," he said.
Each post generally elicits an equally clever response from the city library Los Angeles happens to be facing off with – this week, Cincinnati.
The most fun, familiar, and frequent exchanges have been with San Francisco, which has gone head to head with Los Angeles on the baseball field and most recently at SoFi Stadium, Kesler said. But for now, the LA Public Library is enjoying its beef with the Cincinnati Public Library ahead of the Rams matchup against the Bengals.
"They're fun, they have creative ideas," Kesler said.
