Leimert Park Village Book Fair, Inc. produces year-round educational and literacy programming aimed at improving the lives of youth, young families, and older adults. These programs are planned in partnership with our community partners, educators, policymakers, and sponsors.
• Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival
Continuing its rich tradition of presenting stellar jazz artists, the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival brings in an eclectic array of jazz artists from across the globe to the Hollywood Bowl.
• Room To Read
In collaboration with our community partners, the Leimert Park Village Book Fair supports the establishment of reading centers and libraries in impoverished communities, locally and worldwide. In 2017, partnering with the International Black Women’s Public Policy Women’s Conference, LPVBF donated 250 books to the newly established Reading center within the Nassau Library in Nassau, Bahamas.
• “Each One, Teach One”
USC Annenberg lecturer Miki Turner exhibits her photos "Zulu Eyes" (L) and "Abaya Road" (R) at the 2015 Florence Biennale in Italy.
The phrase Each One, Teach One is an African proverb that originated in the United States during slavery when Africans were denied education. When someone learned how to read or write, it became their responsibility to teach someone else. The idea is to spread knowledge for the betterment of your community.
Helping us evoke this proverb this year is our Resident Instructor, Miki Turner. An award-winning photojournalist, author and producer, Turner teaches at the USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism. Turner has also held positions at ESPN, the NFL Network, MSBBC, AOL, BET and MSNBC, AOL, BET and several newspapers, teaches photojournalism, sports commentary, digital storytelling, and a sports production class. As head of USC undergraduate mentoring program, ARM (Annenberg Resources and Mentoring) and adviser to the USC Photography Club, Miki brings her collective experience to the Leimert Park Village Book Fair as an Instructor in our summer photojournalism seminar program for disadvantaged young adults.
• Job Training and Career Development Program
Leimert Park Village Book Fair Coordinates On-the-job training seminars and workshops where participants receive hands-on work experience completing tasks under the supervision of a training manager, co-worker, or outsourced professional trainer. Some of our partners with this program have included Los Angeles Employment Development Department (EDD), Work Resource Center and the Los Angeles City Job Hire Program.
• Books to Prisoners Program
The Leimert Park Village Book fair established our Prison Book Program to encourage reading, the pursuit of knowledge, and self-determination among incarcerated people. By sending free reading materials to those behind bars, The Book Fair aims to foster learning and critical thinking. We believe that all people have a right to read.
Our U.S prison books program has gotten (literally) tons of books and reading materials into the California prison system. Through the books and reading materials we send; we hope to demonstrate that there are many possibilities for how to live. The American prison-industrial complex is frighteningly huge, but — with the books we collect and donate — we strive to make a positive difference for hundreds of people every year.
The Book Fair is especially thankful to community partners the Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper and the Los Angeles Wave newspaper for their support and participation in this literacy program. Each year these news agencies, in partnership with the Leimert Park Village Book Fair offer California State inmates free subscriptions to their publications.
