Pomona Carnegie Library Opened June 11, 1903

Pomona Public Library, [n.d.] California Historical Society/University of Southern California Libraries

Thanks to a $15,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie and $2100 from local contributors, the new Pomona Library opened its doors on June 11, 1903 at the corner of Center and Main (380 N. Main). At least six architecture firms submitted plans and Franklin Pierce Burnham and William John Bliesner Jr. were chosen to design the building. [Burnham also designed Carnegie libraries in Corona and Oxnard]

Pomona Public Library [ca. 1906] California State Library

Librarian Mabel E. Prentiss and her assistants May Topliff and Mrs. S.B. Minler were the only library staff at the time of the opening. The move took eleven working days for books to be removed from the old location, fumigated, and placed in the new space. The first person through the doors on opening day was Mrs. S.J.L Loop, whose late husband Revered C.F. Loop gifted the library with their marble statue of the Goddess Pomona in 1889, which can still be seen on display in the current library. Librarians from all over Southern California were in attendance for opening day as well, including librarians from Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Bernardino, Riverside and Covina.

Pomona Public Library [ca. 1906]. California State Library

The library had its beginnings in 1887 as an organization started by clubwomen known as the Pomona Public Library and Floral Association. The group held flower shows to raise funds for the library. A close look at some of these photos show flowers and plants throughout the new Carnegie Library. The library was expanded in 1912/13 plus a WPA renovation in 1939. The Carnegie library closed its doors in 1965 when it was replaced by the current Welton Becket-designed building.

Palos Verdes Public Library (aka Malaga Cove Branch) Opened in 1930

Malaga Cove Branch Library, Palos Verdes Library District [Photo by author]

June 3, 1930 - The Palos Verdes Public Library, then a branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library, opened its doors to the public with an exhibit in its art gallery. The purchase prize exhibit featured the works of sixty artists on loan from the Stendahl, Wilshire, Dalzell Hatfield and Klevits galleries. Myron Hunt, who designed the library, also served on the art jury for the exhibit. Attendees included attorney and banker Orra E. Monnette (longtime Los Angeles Public Library Board Member), banker and journalist Frank A. Vanderlip (major landowner in Palos Verdes), singer and clubwoman Estelle Heartt Dreyfuss, soprano Amelita Galli-Curci and librarian Agnes McMillan. 

                    Plaque of the Palos Verdes Library opening [Photo by author]

A more formal dedication of the library was held June 27, 1930 to coincide with the ALA convention taking place in Los Angeles. According to the December 1956 staff newsletter from the Los Angeles County Public Library, the branch broke away from the County system in June 1946 and became an independent library. It is now known as the Malaga Cove Branch of the Palos Verdes Library District. Sam Gnerre tells more of the library's story at http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history/2017/06/17/malaga-cove-library-opened-in-1930-still-going-strong-in-palos-verdes-estates/

Visit the Malaga Cove Branch during their book sales in order to visit the basement and get a glimpse of the dumbwaiter and vault.

Basement vault in the Malaga Cove Branch Library, Palos Verdes Library District [Photo by author]

Los Angeles Public Library Opens in the Metropolitan Building

Charging, receiving and registration desk at the Los Angeles Public Library in the Metropolitan Building, [n.d], Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

On June 1, 1914 the Los Angeles Public Library opened in the Metropolitan Building at 5th and Broadway. Accessible only by an elevator, the library rented the seventh, eighth and ninth floors. In addition to subject departments the library featured a music room and spaces to display art. 

Art display at the Los Angeles Public Library in the Metropolitan Building, [1926], 

Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

Music room at the Los Angeles Public Library in the Metropolitan Building, [1926], 

Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

Crowd at the Los Angeles Public Library in the Metropolitan Building, [1926], 

Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection

By the early 1920s the location was overcrowded and City Librarian Everett R. Perry enlisted library worker Monica Shannon (graduate of the library's 1915 Training Class) to head their Publicity Department and spearhead a campaign for a new library building. The campaign included advertisements on the side of streetcars and in movie theaters, display windows in downtown department stores, informative talks by library staff and prominent Angelenos, as well as branch-level publicity in the form of bookmarks slipped into checked out items. The campaign was a success and in 1926 the library moved out of the Metropolitan Building and into the beautiful Central Library. Visit https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/monica-shannon-advocate-libraries-leprechauns-and-luckless to learn more about Ms. Shannon and the library's campaigns to free itself from rented spaces.