Glendale Public Library
The Glendale Public Library (Library, Arts & Culture Department) is located in Glendale, California, and serves a diverse community of over 200,000 people. GPL has a total of 7 branches, in addition to the large Central Library, including the unique Brand Library & Art Center. GPL was 100 years old in 2007, and hosted many events and offered new services throughout the year in celebration. In July of 2016, the City of Glendale temporarily closed down the library as a result of its major renovation plan. It was later reopened on May 1, 2017.
According to internal calculations, as of June 30, 2005, GPL owned well over 700,000 volumes of print materials, with a majority (over 400,000) being housed at the Central Library. Not included in those totals are a wealth of currently uncataloged items of local historical importance (photographs and ephemera.) GPL also owns a large body of non-English print materials, (specializing in Armenian titles), as well as a "Genocide Memorial Collection" of works pertaining to many of mankind's worst moments.
Library services in Glendale were first provided in 1906. The women of the Tuesday Afternoon Club, a social and philanthropic organization, raised money through a series of lectures to fund a library collection. The library opened in a renovated pool room at Third and E (Wilson and Everett) Streets with seventy books, soon supplemented by a State Traveling Library of fifty more, and served a population of 1,186.
In 1907, the City Trustees passed Ordinance 53 which established and supported a library which "...shall be forever free to the inhabitants and nonresident taxpayers of the City of Glendale..." The first year the library had 251 books, 165 registered patrons, and a budget of $248.88. In 1913, a Carnegie grant of $12,500 made possible the construction of the main library at Louise and Fifth (Harvard Street). The building was completed and dedicated November 13, 1914. The building was enlarged in 1926. Between 1940 and 1942, two side wings were added, one becoming a children's library called the Hans Christian Andersen Room and the other housing Readers' Service.
The present Central Library building opened on March 13, 1973, on the former site of Glendale Union High School and Glendale College. With 92,600 square feet (8,600 m2) it had over four times the floor space of the old structure. The next twenty years saw major changes in the City of Glendale and in library technology. The latest remodel has brought library users a larger Children's Room and a separate Audio Visual area. The new upper level includes an expansion of the Special Collections room to accommodate the valuable historical information housed there. The redesign of the Reference and Circulation areas has been specifically oriented toward better customer service. The creation of a Business Collection area and a Job Center recognizes Glendale's position as the third largest business center in California.
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