Riverside Public Library

Riverside Public Library is located in Riverside, California.

History

On 9 July 1888, the Riverside City Board of Trustees assumed responsibility for the book collection of the Riverside Library Association, which had formed 15 July 1879, and appointed a committee to oversee the establishment of a public library. The Riverside Public Library officially opened its doors on 1 June 1889. The library consisted of two upstairs rooms in the Handy Building, located on the north side of Eighth Street, between Main and Orange streets. In January 1890, the Library collection was moved to the second floor of the Loring Building. On 16 August 1901, Andrew Carnegie granted Riverside $20,000 for a library building. Construction began in 1902, and the result was a gorgeous Mission Revival building--the work of the architectural firm of Burnham and Blieser--on the northeast corner of Seventh and Orange streets. When the Carnegie Library opened to the public on 31 July 1903, it had a 20,000-volume capacity. In mid-1909, the library was further expanded with another Carnegie grant--a $15,000 project that created a children's room for the first time.

Library Service School

Joseph F. Daniels, one of the leading theorists on library education, was much sought after as a lecturer and guest professor at major eastern universities and he wrote numerous lively articles on what constituted a proper library education. Daniels was even credited with having personally convinced Andrew Carnegie to stop funding so many library buildings and to start financing the education of the staff to run them.

Daniels came to the Riverside Public Library with the intention of founding a library school taught by himself and those library experts from other parts of the country who could be lured to Southern California.

Daniels started basic classes and training projects for his own staff almost immediately and was so confident of the results that he asked for salary reviews by the Library Board in January 1911. Classes for non-staff members were first held in the summer of 1911.

Vision Statement of Library

"To be the foremost promoter of self-directed life-long learning. We spark curiosity and provide tools for discovery."

Library Directors

Mary Montague Smith 1888-1900
Grace Mansfield 1900-1905
Margaret Kyle 1905-1909
Helen Evans (Acting) 1909-1910
Joseph F. Daniels 1910-1921
Lillian Dickson (Acting) 1921-1922
Charles F. Woods 1922-1947
Albert Charles Lake 1947-1975
Catherine Lucas 1975-1979
Linda M. Wood 1980-
Judith Auth
Barbara Custen

ource

* Baker, Ronald J.; "Serving Through Partnership: A Centennial History of the Riverside City and County Public Library, 1888-1988"

External links

* [http://www.riversideca.gov/library/ Riverside Public Library]
* [http://riversidelibrary.blogspot.com/ Librarians' Own Grove]
* [http://www.riversideca.gov/ City of Riverside]
* [http://read.riversideca.gov/ RPL Online Catalog]