Back in 1999, Leonardo DiCaprio was already a breakout star, thanks to the 1997 release of the smash hit, “Titanic.”
But at home, the Los Angeles Library was putting the finishing touches on its Los Feliz Branch, a new library built where DiCaprio’s childhood home once stood.
When the new branch opened its doors in 1999, DiCaprio and his family donated $35,000 to fund the library’s computer center, which was aptly named the Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center.
To this day, the small computer lab is filled with autographed movie posters of the star’s greatest hits, personal momentos, and even a photo of him standing outside of his childhood home.
According to SF Gate, the computer lab is located where DiCaprio’s childhood bedroom once stood.
“The Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center contains seven terminals with software to help students with math, language, and study skills,” People Magazine reported in 1999.
Not too much has changed, the current senior librarian Pearl Yonezawa told SF Gate, but DiCaprio has remained a loyal supporter of the facility in the nearly 30 years since.
According to Yonezawa, the actor’s foundation will occasionally write to the library and ask if any needs can be filled. In the late-2000s recession, she said, residents were coming to the library to see if they could read a copy of The New York Times.
“We sent word on up that that was an issue we were having, and so we asked [DiCaprio] for a year subscription so that we could see if it was worth the library subscribing to it,” she told SF Gate. “And he bought us a five-year subscription.”
While DiCaprio doesn’t live in the area, he will make the occasional secret visit. Yonezawa said she first saw him at the library in the early 2000s, shrouded in a baseball cap.
But even if he isn’t present, fans from all over the world will flock to see the DiCaprio computer lab. Yonezawa said she has received visitors from Lithuania, Japan, and Germany who are interested in seeing the computer lab.
Before the library even opened, she added, a fan flew from Wisconsin to ask if she could scoop some dirt from the construction site. Yonezawa let her take “a reasonable amount” so she could bring it “home to her friends so they could touch the sacred, sacred dirt.”
In addition to DiCaprio’s contributions over the years, the library is supported by a separate nonprofit arm, Friends of Los Feliz Library.
Formed in 1993, the group is made up of locals who act as an independent body to advocate for the library and its services.
“Through memberships, donations, and fundraising, FOLFL provides supplemental funding for the necessities that help to keep the Los Feliz Branch library a relevant and vibrant cornerstone of the Los Feliz community,” the organization’s website shares.
“With the major support of FOLFL, Los Feliz Branch Library continues to meet the needs of local library-goers by providing free and equitable access to information and knowledge through programming, education, technology, or the printed page.”
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Header image: State Department Photo/ Public Domain
