Santa Monica Public Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Santa Monica Public Library |
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|---|---|
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| Country | United States |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1890 |
| Location | Santa Monica, California |
| Collection | |
| Size | 385,000+ |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | 1 million+ |
| Population served | 92,472 |
| Other information | |
| Budget | $6,804,960 |
| Director | Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter |
| Staff | 93 |
The Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) is a public library that serves the people living in Santa Monica, California, and nearby areas. A City Librarian leads SMPL, and a Library Board helps guide it. This board has five members chosen by the Santa Monica City Council.
What Can You Do at the Library?
The Santa Monica Public Library system has a Main Library and four smaller branch libraries. The Main Library is at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard. The four branch libraries are:
- the Fairview Branch (2101 Ocean Park Boulevard)
- the Montana Avenue Branch (1704 Montana Avenue)
- the Ocean Park Branch (2601 Main Street)
- the Pico Branch (2201 Pico Boulevard)
Getting a Library Card
If you live in California, you can get a library card for free! With a card, you can borrow books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks. You can also get ebooks and use special online research tools.
Using Computers and Wi-Fi
All library locations have computers you can use to access the internet. Both California residents and visitors can use these computers. The libraries also offer free Wi-Fi, so you can connect your own devices.
Study Rooms and Meeting Spaces
The Main Library and the Pico Branch Library have small study rooms. These are free for library cardholders to use for group projects or quiet study. Each library also has larger rooms that can be rented for meetings or events.
Fun Programs and Events
The library offers many public programs. These include book clubs, computer classes, music shows, and visits from authors. Two popular programs are "Santa Monica Reads" and the "Green Prize for Sustainable Literature." The Youth Services Department has story times, special events, and a popular summer reading program for kids and teens.
Special Collections and History
The Main Library has a special "Santa Monica Collection Room." This room holds books and other items about the Santa Monica Bay area. You can also explore "Imagine Santa Monica" online. This website has old photos, postcards, maps, and newspapers from the library's history collection.
How the Library Started and Grew
Early Days of the Library
Santa Monica became a town in 1875. In 1884, a reading room was set up next to a drug store. This room had books and magazines for people to read. In 1888, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) took over the reading room. It had about 400 books.
In November 1890, the WCTU offered to give their library, which now had 800 books, to the city of Santa Monica. The city leaders accepted this gift. In December 1890, Ms. Elfie Mosse became the first City Librarian. The library moved into two rooms in the Bank of Santa Monica building.
At first, using the reading rooms was free, but borrowing books cost 25 cents a month. In March 1893, the library became free for everyone to borrow books. By then, it had 1,800 books. By 1898, the library needed more space and expanded. In March 1903, it moved to the new City Hall, which gave it even more room.
The Carnegie Library Buildings
As Santa Monica grew, so did its library collection. In 1903, a woman named Mrs. J. H. Clark asked Andrew Carnegie for money to build a library. Carnegie was a very rich businessman who helped build many libraries. He agreed to give $12,500 for a new building.
The citizens of Santa Monica raised money to buy land for the library. Work on the new building started in January 1904. The library opened to the public just eight months later, on August 11. By 1912, the library had over 18,500 books, and people were borrowing more than 80,000 items a year! It was already getting too small.
The city also needed smaller branch libraries. The mayor asked Carnegie for money to build a branch. Carnegie gave another $12,500. The Ocean Park branch library opened on February 15, 1918.
Main Library in the 1920s and 1930s
In 1926, people voted to spend $50,000 to make the Main Library bigger. The small Carnegie building was expanded and redesigned in a Spanish style. The larger Main Library reopened on November 18, 1927.
A special part of the remodeled Main Library was a large mural by artist Stanton Macdonald-Wright. He started working on this huge painting in 1934 and finished it in 18 months. The 2,000-square-foot mural made a big impression on visitors.
Another artist, Eulalie Wilson, painted murals for the Boys and Girls Room in the Main Library. Characters like Peter Pan and Cinderella decorated the children's section for over 20 years.
More Branch Libraries Open
By 1930, Santa Monica had a population of 37,000. On July 1, 1931, the Fairview Heights branch library opened. It was a small storefront library between a grocery store and a barber shop.
By 1942, the Fairview Branch needed a bigger space. It moved to a new location at 2030 Pico Boulevard on July 13, 1942.
During World War II, the Fairview Branch Librarian, Nellie Sullivan, started preschool story times. This was the first program of its kind on the West Coast! Also during the war, in 1945, the basement of the Ocean Park branch library became a "Young People's Room" for teenagers to study and play games.
By the 1950s, plans were made for an even larger Fairview branch. In 1956, the third Fairview branch opened at 2101 Ocean Park Boulevard.
To serve the north side of the city, the Montana Avenue Branch opened in February 1952. It was in a rented building. This branch became very popular. It soon needed more space, so the city bought land for a new building. The new Montana Avenue branch library opened on March 1, 1960.
A New Main Library for the 1960s
In 1962, people voted for a new Main Library building. Land was bought, and construction began in February 1964. This new library, designed by Matthew Robert Leizer and Thomas J. Russell, opened in September 1965. Its address was 1343 Sixth Street.
The Macdonald-Wright murals from the old Main Library were moved to the Smithsonian Institution for safekeeping. Later, before the new Main Library opened in 2006, the murals were loaned back to the library. You can now see them on the second floor of the Main Library.
In 1989, the library started answering questions by email. In 2000, the Santa Monica Public Library became the first public library to offer online chat help. In 2009, they even added text message help!
The library started lending DVDs in 2000. In 2005, they began offering downloadable audiobooks online. In 2003, the library started its "Citywide Reads" program, encouraging everyone in Santa Monica to read and discuss the same book.
A New Main Library for the 21st Century
In 1996, the library began planning to expand the Main Library. They gathered ideas from the community. In 1998, people voted to fund these library improvements.
In 2002, the Santa Monica City Council approved the design for the new Main Library. Before the old Main Library closed, the branch libraries were updated. The Montana Avenue Branch got a new meeting room. The old Main Library building was taken down, and construction began in 2003. This included building a three-level underground parking garage and a new two-story library.
While the Main Library was being built, the main adult book collection was kept at a temporary location. The children's and youth collections were moved to the Ocean Park Branch.
The new Main Library, a large 104,000-square-foot building, opened in January 2006. It was recognized for its environmentally friendly design. The new library has more public computers and bigger meeting areas, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium.
In 2007, the library started its "Green Prize for Sustainable Literature" program. In 2008, the library hosted the first "Living Library" event in the United States. In 2010, the library began lending ebooks. Library use continued to grow a lot in the early 2000s. In 2009, visits to the Main Library went over one million for the first time!
The Newest Branch Library
For many years, people in the Pico neighborhood wanted a branch library to return. In 2008, the idea gained strength. In 2009, the City Council approved building a new branch library in Virginia Avenue Park.
The Pico Branch Library was designed by Koning Eizenberg Architecture. It has two buildings: the main library and a separate community room. The community room is connected to the library by a roof with solar panels.
Construction began on August 15, 2012. The Pico Branch Library had a soft opening on April 24, 2014, and a grand opening ceremony on June 28, 2014.
