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The Californians Powering America
October 16, 2025 – March 31, 2026
San Fernando Library and La Cañada Flintridge Library
Shining a Light on the Invisible Labor Behind California’s Economy
In partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Magnum Photographers, The Californians Powering America is a powerful, immersive photography exhibit featuring six compelling photo essays that illuminate the immigrant labor force driving California’s most vital industries—from agriculture and construction to caregiving and fire recovery.
At a time when immigrant communities are increasingly marginalized, this exhibit tells their stories with empathy, intimacy, and urgency. The Californians Powering America invites you to see the humanity behind its workforce. These are the faces and stories of the people who make the California Dream possible. From the Central Valley’s farmlands to Los Angeles kitchens and clinics, immigrants are fueling agriculture, construction, food service, healthcare, and more.
Through the work of award-winning photographers and storytellers, Californians Powering America puts a human face on this invisible workforce, capturing both their daily struggles and deep resilience.
Featured Artists
Matt Black lives in the Central Valley where he has long chronicled the lives of the region’s overlooked immigrant labor driving U.S. agriculture. His contribution is a short documentary that layers stark imagery of the region’s emptied fields with the voices of immigrants impacted by changes in federal deportation policies.
Yael Martinez first came to California from Mexico in 2007 at the age of 21, hoping to earn enough money to buy a camera. He joined his uncle in El Cajon, San Diego County, and worked in construction for over a year and a half, alongside other family members who were building lives in industries like food service, construction, and landscaping. In his first photo essay, Martinez returns to El Cajon to document the lives and work of his relatives, offering a personal look at the experiences of a multigenerational migrant family. His second project shifts to Los Angeles, where he photographs workers—many of them immigrants—helping communities recover from wildfires by clearing debris, rebuilding homes, and providing support, often while facing significant personal and professional challenges.
Sabiha Çimen, born in Istanbul, brings her own immigrant perspective to photo essays showcasing caregiving and food culture among Los Angeles’ immigrant communities. In intimate, multi-layered portraits of Korean nurses and Middle Eastern Muslim immigrants in Los Angeles, we see the quiet labor that goes into caregiving and feeding the community, centering those who play critical roles in the nourishment of others yet often remain unseen. Through intimate photography and personal interviews, Çimen explores not only these immigrants’ work, but how they live, what they carry, and how they preserve their dignity in the face of structural invisibility.
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Downloads and Streaming
Digital Media
With your LA County Library card, you can download or stream eBooks, eAudiobooks, magazines, music, and movies on your computer, tablet, or phone. It's free and you'll never have to worry about overdue fines!
You'll need a library card in good standing and a PIN to access most downloadable & streaming content.
Kindle Paperwhite eReader
Welcome to a New Way to Read...
Have you walked into a library and wished you could check out more books than you could possibly carry? Check out a Kindle Paperwhite at participating libraries with a collection of titles that you are sure to enjoy. Each Kindle has been loaded with expert-selected books.
You don’t need internet access - all the books are pre-loaded onto the Kindle so you are ready to read.
Three week checkout
Renew up to 3 times, as long as no one else is waiting
Must be 18 or older (or under 18 with parent permission)
eBooks cannot be added to this device by user
How do I get one?
Visit a participating library to check out or place a hold on a Kindle Paperwhite. Kindles are not sent to other libraries for pick up.
Note: Selection of genres varies per library. Click on a library below to see the list of genres.
Library Locations with eReaders
Click on the library to view list of genres available.
Many of our libraries offer enhanced resources, computers, and online services to support your homework needs. Check with your local library!
Family Place
What is Family Place?
A Family Place Library is a center for early childhood information, parent education, emergent literacy, socialization, and family support. Family Place builds on the knowledge that good health, early learning, parent involvement, and supportive communities play a critical role in young children's growth and development. Each Family Place Library features the following core elements:
A bright, colorful, and welcoming space for young children and their parents.
A collection of books, toys, videos, music, and other materials for babies, toddlers, parents, and service providers
Access to resources that emphasize emergent literacy, reading readiness, and parent education.
Developmentally appropriate programming, such as baby and toddler storytimes for younger children and their parents.
Outreach to new and underserved populations.
The Parent-Child Workshop is a five-week workshop featuring local professionals, such as nutritionists, speech and language therapists, and child development experts, who serve as resources for parents.
The first three years of a child's life lay the foundation for learning. Get the tools and resources you need to give your child the best possible start.
Great! Thank you for sharing your photos with Catalina PhotoShare, a community history project of LA County Library.
Your photos will be reviewed and if they meet the criteria, they will be added to the Catalina PhotoShare online collection.
If you have any questions, please contact: digitalprojects@library.lacounty.gov
Terms of Service and Laptop Library Locations
Laptops in this kiosk can be checked out by customers with a LA County Library card in good standing. The laptop is due back in the kiosk before the library closes on the same day it is checked out.
If you do not return the laptop to the kiosk on the same day you check it out, your library account will be charged the full replacement cost of the laptop.
When you check out a laptop from this kiosk, you agree to use it within the library only. If you remove the laptop from the library, you may held criminally responsible for theft of the laptop and/or be charged the full replacement cost of the laptop.
You are responsible for the laptop and you agree that you will reimburse the LA County Library for any damages if the laptop is damaged, lost or stolen while checked out to you.
If you check out a laptop and it is damaged, you will give it to library staff immediately.
You must save to a removable storage device (such as a USB drive) since your work will not be saved to the laptop beyond your current checkout.
LA County Library will not be held responsible for any damage or loss of data or media due to any cause while you are using a laptop from this kiosk.
By using this laptop, you must adhere to the Library’s Acceptable Use Policy. Laptops are available at the following libraries:
The Consumer Health Information Program assists the public with medical research by providing information from reliable sources. Customers are invited to use the Norwalk Library collection which consists of books, magazines, videos, and online databases related to health topics. We also provide individualized research services.
Please be aware, we do not provide medical advice, nor are the materials we provide a substitute for a professional medical opinion.
What Can We Do for You?
We can provide you with information on topics such as:
Medical conditions or diseases
Prescription medications
Surgical procedures
General physician and hospital information
Book and website recommendations for further reading
The Californiana Collection is in closed stacks at the Norwalk Library located at 12350 Imperial Hwy, Norwalk, CA 90650.
About the Collection
The Californiana Collection consists of over 24,000 books and over 200 magazine and newspaper titles in paper and on microfilm as well as a collection of state documents including state and county budgets. The goal of this collection is to present a complete picture of the history, culture, environment and artistic expression of the people of California and to some extent, the western United States.
Collection Highlights
California Census Schedules from 1850 to 1910
Copies of The Alta California newspaper 1849-1891, as well as dozens of other 19th century newspapers from Gold Rush boomtowns, the Owens Valley and San Francisco
Official city and county histories from the 19th and 20th centuries
Materials on the Donner Party, California water projects, famous California crimes, Hollywood culture, biographies of Californians, pioneer narratives of the early days of California, and histories of the state written over the course of 150 years
