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Beloved Heavy Manners Library in Echo Park is moving — and it’s looking for a few good volunteers
Heavy Manners co-founder Matthew James-Wilson organizes library books in the Echo Park shop.
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Heavy Manners Library, a beloved multipurpose event space on Alvarado Street, is hitting a big milestone. The organization, which hosts classes, music gigs and art exhibits, has outgrown its current location.
Defying the fate that has befallen many small operations in rapidly changing neighborhoods, Heavy Manners is staying in Echo Park.
Yulia Cymbura, head librarian at Heavy Manners Library.
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Book by book
Co-founder Matthew James-Wilson came up with the idea for the space while doing research for a book he wanted to write about the evolution of art in the internet age. During the process, he had an epiphany.
Why write just one book when you can provide access to hundreds of them? Why not start a library that doubles as an art space too?
“ You could imagine a gallery show happening in a library, or you could imagine a poetry reading happening in a library,” said James-Wilson.
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An illustration by artist Patrick Kyle.
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Mixed media collages from artist Patrick Kyle's "How To Be Mean" exhibit.
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The name “Heavy Manners,” James-Wilson said, pays homage to a concept in reggae music that goes back to '70s deejay Prince Far I’s album Under Heavy Manners.
“ Sort of in reference to British colonial culture imposing this etiquette, or heavy manners, on Jamaican culture,” said James-Wilson.
Heavy Manners was just a couple of shelves when it opened in 2021, but through donations by artists and community members, its stacks grew.
The library has hosted more than 1,000 events, from drawing and sewing lessons to live music shows.
A room in Heavy Manners Library where events and workshops are held.
Interior of Heavy Manners.
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A small stage where events are held.
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“The space has taught me, as long as you can keep the calendar full and you can get things that people are excited about, people will share it with more people,” James-Wilson said.
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Keep the calendar full
Carly Jean Andrews has been teaching nude figure drawing at Heavy Manners since 2023.
“Yeah, you have all the knowledge in the world on the internet, but it's so much more useful to just come here and have it be really literal,” Andrews said.
Carly Jean Andrews and Bijou Karman, instructors at Heavy Manners, posing in front of one of an art show.
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Bijou Karman teaches clothed figure drawing classes and has published zines and books of her fashion drawings through Heavy Manners.
“Today, I was here hand-assembling one of the books, and Carly was very kindly helping me assemble. It's a very community-oriented space where you actually meet people and learn new things,” said Karman.
Bijou Karman's recent art book "Images De Mode" is displayed near the entrance of the library.
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Changes on the block
Heavy Manners has been looking for more room to grow its library and event offerings.
The dream was to stay in the area and keep its relationship to Echo Park, despite the changes to the neighborhood, starting with the very block where Heavy Manners sits.
A book nook with a bench and a view of the outside street.
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The nearly century-old restaurant Taix is being demolished, while Silverlake Flea, which ran out of the French Bistro’s parking lot, has moved to Atwater Village.
“ It's a construction site that may be ongoing for a long time. You can sort of feel the sense of change happening, just on our block in general,” said James-Wilson.
Heavy Manners Library, 1200 N. Alvarado St., Unit D, Los Angeles
Days & hours: Mondays, and Thursdays to Sundays, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Membership: $8/month or $75/year. Tickets are available for purchase for individual workshops and events
Heavy Manners Library will remain at its current location through the end of the month.
Volunteer moving days are planned for June 23, 26 and 30. Here's how to sign up.
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Luckily, James-Wilson saw a nearby building on Sunset within Heavy Manners' budget and went for it. Their new home, about 400 feet away from the current location, is bigger and more wheelchair accessible. It also has an outdoor area that employees want to convert into a garden, or use for nature-oriented workshops.
Its current space won’t sit vacant though; Whammy Analog Media, a VHS video store expanding from a small backroom to a full-fledged shop, will be taking over.
A shelve with analog media available for check out.
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It takes a village
Recently, Heavy Manners put out a call for volunteers to help move its many books and zines in time for a planned mid-July reopening.
A "Free Zine Library" inside the space.
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“Because it's really close by, I'm kinda hoping to have just sort of a parade of people each carrying a box across the street,” said James-Wilson. “It takes a village to foster something like this, that is not lost on me.”
Various "Heavy Manners Library" prints.
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