September 26th 2009
The Californian
by Mike Hornick
When Salinas' first public library opened in 1909, the city became part of a unique moment in history.
The building at Main and San Luis streets, where the Bank of America now sits, was one of about 1,400 nationwide funded by steel baron and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Carnegie's architect drew a blueprint for a library that could be built for $10,000. The billionaire gave the blueprint and the money to cities across the country in the first decade or so of the 20th century.
They weren't the first American public libraries — Boston pioneered them — but this was the moment the idea went viral.
"The public library that we know today, that's open and free to everybody, was around at the turn of the century," Salinas Library Director Elizabeth Martinez said. "Most were built then.
"The concept of a public library is unique, very American," she said. "It was America's gift to the world."
A century later, an average 1,800 Salinas residents enjoy that gift every day as they walk through the doors of the three branches — John Steinbeck, El Gabilan and Cesar Chavez. On Sunday, they can celebrate 100 years of the Salinas library in a birthday bash at each branch. Events run from noon to 6 p.m. at Cesar Chavez and 1 to 5 p.m. at the other branches.
"It's a great opportunity to show how important libraries are," said Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, whose efforts on the Rally Salinas! and Measure V fundraising campaigns in 2005 helped prevent closure of the libraries during a city budget crisis.
Salinas' first library, a precursor to the John Steinbeck Library, opened Nov. 4, 1909, after five years of planning. The women of the Salinas Civic Club helped raise the $4,000 cost of the building lot. Books were donated by the Salinas Women's Christian Temperance Union. J.D. Carr, namesake of Carr Lake, had a hand in fundraising.
In another local centennial this week, Iva Dixon celebrated her 100th birthday Thursday. Her daughter, 79-year-old Nadine West, grew up in and around Salinas and remembers the old Carnegie library.
"I was 15 years old and going to Salinas High when I used that library," West said. "I liked to go in there and browse around."
The Carnegie libraries were charming, but eventually seemed small. The number of walls and rooms added to that impression. The Carnegie libraries, all built from the same pattern, also had a "cookie-cutter" feel, Martinez said, even as they had the charm of walking into someone's home. Meanwhile, the growth of cities put pressure on the buildings. By 1960, when the local Carnegie library was demolished, Salinas was ready for a larger space: In a half century, it had grown from a city of about 3,000 to 28,957.
Steinbeck honored
The new, open-layout library on Lincoln Street started the same year. It was renamed for Steinbeck after the author's 1968 death. He had grown up using the original library and often visited during research for his novel "East of Eden," local historian Carol Robles said.
It's hard to know what Steinbeck would have made of the honor; he once said it would be better to name a bar after him than a school. For some others, the renaming was most unwelcome.
"It was not a popular decision," Robles said. "People had a lot of feelings about Steinbeck, and quite a few did not want the library named after him."
East Salinas library tradition
In east Salinas, the library tradition goes back to a time before 1963, when the city annexed that area, called The Alisal. The year after annexation, Salinas — then with a population of 51,700 — took over a county library housed in a garage on Alma Street, librarian Mary Jean Gamble said. The El Gabilan branch on North Main Street opened in 1966, thanks in part to a donation by Salinas resident Elena Christensen.
The push for a better library in east Salinas began in 1973, and longtime library commissioner Sally Gutierrez was among those leading the charge. The Santa Lucia Library opened on Williams Road in 1978, replacing a storefront location on Market Street. In 1993, it was renamed for labor leader Cesar Chavez.
The newer, more open spaces allowed for more offerings; first books, then music, films and Internet access. That process of change isn't likely to end with the three branches as they stand now.
Libraries of the future
"We may see libraries take on some of the functions that cafàs have now," said Lori Wood, library program manager. "We go to cafàs to have unstructured time and be with each other. There's a sense of serendipity libraries offer, but also a sense of being with other people in the world of ideas. It's exciting."
Eventually, more library construction will be done in Salinas. A 6,300-square-foot expansion is planned at the Cesar Chavez branch, adding to the existing 9,100 square feet. Completion is set for April 2011, though city revenue and fundraising challenges could slow that plan.
Longer term, the city's oldest library may move again, from its Lincoln Street home into the downtown redevelopment area envisioned by Salinas Renaissance Partners and Urban Design Associates. It could even be back on Main Street again, in the 100 block or at Gabilan and Lincoln streets, next to a new City Hall.
"I keep telling the mayor: if he can get $50 million, we can start tomorrow and have it built in three years," Martinez said, laughing. "That's all we need, and we can build a Louvre of a library here."
What can we expect in the library's future, 100 years from now? The library's mascot, Snappy the Tortoise, might actually see it. The rest of us will have to envision it.
Snappy crawls toward 2109
"Snappy's the only library staff member that's going to be alive when they open the time capsule in 2109," Martinez said, referring to Sunday's time capsule kickoff at El Gabilan. "They can live to be 200, and she's very well taken care of. She'll probably weigh 45 pounds by then."
"The way it's going to be is something not imaginable to me, just as 20 years ago, we could not have imagined the level of virtual spaces we've created," Wood said. "There will be layer upon layer of virtual spaces, but libraries will remain civic spaces.
"Salinas can play a real role in imagining that future, as a city of letters. Salinas has a deep legacy in the literary imagination. The people who live here realize this least, I think. The library's birthday is a perfect opportunity to begin this discussion."
