The World’s Largest Pop-Up Book Is on Free Display at LA Central Library
Luceros y Penumbras opens to roughly 31 feet and weighs over 1,800 pounds, free through November for the library’s centennial.
The Los Angeles Central Library is marking its 100th anniversary with a jaw-dropping centerpiece: a pop-up book so large it weighs more than 1,800 pounds and opens to roughly 31 feet wide, with paper scenes that rise over 11 feet. Titled Luceros y Penumbras, it is billed by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles as officially the largest pop-up book ever created, and it sits open on the library's second-floor Rotunda, free to view with no ticket or timed entry.
The book was built by Los Angeles artist Daniel González with acclaimed paper engineer Matthew Reinhart, and its two spreads depict the Central Library building itself and a sprawling tree filled with hidden creatures, an owl, a sea turtle and a feathered serpent among them, designed to be explored like an I Spy hunt. It runs through November 2026.
Need to know
- Where
- Richard J. Riordan Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, CA 90071 (2nd-floor Rotunda)
- Hours
- Through November 2026 · viewable during regular library hours · Verified 2026-07-22 · source
- Price
- Free, no ticket or timed entry