From the beginning the Huntington Beach Public Library has been an illustration of citizen concern for the community and its future generations.
Shortly before the city was incorporated February 1909, the possibility of opening a library was brought to the attention of the Board of Trade by two citizens, R.W. Blodgett and Mrs. R.H. Lindgren.
Efforts of these two citizens aroused the interest of some local organizations and the Huntington Beach Women's Club called a mass meeting on February 15, 1909, to form a library association.
Carnegie Library In February, 1913, councilmen received notification of the $10,000 grant and they notified the Library Board to begin discussing plans for the new library.
In August, 1913, the Carnegie Corporation accepted the plans and W. D. Lambert of Long Beach received the contract. The cornerstone of the Carnegie Library was laid during a big ceremony. The history of the city, the library, names of all those who had served on the Library Board, city trustees, pastors of the churches, members of the Board of Trade, names of those who had served on the library staff, the name of each child in the schools and a small American flag were enclosed in the stone.
In a little over four years the number of volumes in the library had risen from 328 volumes to 2800 volumes, 700 of which were donated by residents of the city.
The main floor of the new Carnegie Library housed an adult reading room, a children's department and the librarian's office. The lecture room, a reference room and the furnace room were located downstairs. The Chamber of Commerce was located in the lecture room until 1921.
Earthquake damage
In March, 1933, the Carnegie Library suffered considerable damage in the great earthquake which struck the area. The board authorized Catching Brothers Company to make the necessary repairs to the Carnegie building.
1934 saw the library lose its librarian of 23 years when Bertha Reynolds (formerly Proctor) resigned. She had seen the library grow from the small building at Walnut Avenue and 3rd Street to the Carnegie Building at Walnut Avenue and 8th Street, and now the library was outgrowing that facility.
A preliminary set of plans was submitted to the Library Board by Architects McClelland, McDonald, and Markwith of Los Angeles, but the advent of World War II held up construction until 1949.
The new Huntington Beach Library started its existence in 1967 when the Librarian Walter Johnson created a program citing the library needs for a growing community and the library board selected the Talbert Avenue site. The City Council then decided to place the library program on the ballot.
The issue failed on the election held on November 5, 1968. With approximately 62 percent of the vote in favor of the library, however, the council decided to fund the project through the creation of a Public Facilities Corporation and created a five-man corporation for this purpose.
The site had been selected because of its centralized location, both geographically and by population, and because of the natural beauty surrounding it. A ten-acre plot of land was purchased for the site, including part of Talbert Lake, and the ground breaking ceremony took place on October 28, 1972.
History of the Library from 1975 to Present
The library increased its role as a vital community resource throughout the following two decades, and by the early 1990s plans were made to expand. The City of Huntington Beach hired the architectural firm of Anthony &, Langford to design what became a 43,000 square foot expansion. The new wing opened in 1994 and includes a new Children&rsquo, s area with its own storytime theater. The lower level fe
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