If Hollywood ever needed proof that Leonardo DiCaprio has always had a soft spot for his roots, it might be tucked inside a modest Los Angeles library where his childhood bedroom once stood. Back in 1999, just two years after “Titanic” launched him into global stardom, the Los Angeles Public Library opened its new Los Feliz Branch on the site of DiCaprio’s former home. And the actor didn’t just send flowers. He and his family donated $35,000 to create the branch’s computer center, which opened as the Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center.
The small lab still carries his fingerprints. Walls hold autographed movie posters, personal keepsakes, and even a photo of DiCaprio standing outside his childhood home. According to SF Gate, the computer lab sits exactly where his childhood bedroom used to be.
When the center first launched, its purpose was neatly summed up in People Magazine’s 1999 coverage: “The Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center contains seven terminals with software to help students with math, language, and study skills.” Nearly 30 years later, senior librarian Pearl Yonezawa told SF Gate the setup hasn’t changed much. What has stayed steady is DiCaprio’s loyalty.
Yonezawa said the actor’s foundation still checks in occasionally to see if the branch needs anything. During the late-2000s recession, residents were coming in hoping to read The New York Times. Yonezawa passed the concern along. The library asked DiCaprio for one year of the newspaper to help them gauge demand. “And he bought us a five-year subscription,” she told SF Gate.
DiCaprio doesn’t live in the area anymore, but he’s known to make the occasional quiet visit. Yonezawa said she first spotted him in the early 2000s, wearing a baseball cap low enough to avoid attention.
Even when he’s not around, fans make the pilgrimage. Visitors have arrived from Lithuania, Japan, and Germany just to see the computer lab. Before the library even opened, Yonezawa said a woman flew from Wisconsin to request a handful of dirt from the construction site. She allowed her to take “a reasonable amount” so she could bring it “home to her friends so they could touch the sacred, sacred dirt.”
Support for the branch goes beyond DiCaprio’s contributions. The library also receives help from the Friends of Los Feliz Library, a nonprofit founded in 1993. The group’s mission, as its website explains, is simple: “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.”
Thanks to the group’s backing, the library continues offering free access to technology, education, programs, and books for local residents.
All this from a place where one of Hollywood’s most famous actors once did his homework. Now, nearly three decades later, his early connection to the building still quietly echoes through the shelves and computer screens.
