Newsletters · July 1982
July newsletter on building anniversary and library history
Announces August 14 reception for former librarians; presents early history, conflicting first-librarian accounts and 1962/1982 usage comparison.
Text
Transcribed from the scans and checked against them by Claude. Typed text comes first; handwritten notes follow it. [illegible] marks words that cannot be read and [?] an uncertain reading.
JULY 1982 HERMOSA BEACH FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY JULY 1982
Only Yesterday....we dedicated the new Hermosa Beach Public Library on August 10, 1962.
To commemorate this double decade of library life, Friends of The Library will sponsor an OPEN HOUSE at the Library on Saturday, August 14, 1982. As special guests, retired library staffers Dorothy Olney, Kathryn Dittmar and Carlotta Hoye will be on hand to meet and greet longtime friends. There will be an informal reception from two to four p.m. with refreshments being offered in celebration of the event all day long. Steve Izant is Chairman of the event.
The first library in Hermosa was an informal alliance by the Mother's Reading Group, according to Mary Hagen. They took turns reading aloud to their combined collection of children. Later this group and some friends developed a circulating library from the Ocean View School(located at the present site of St. Cross Church) with Mrs. Mary Montgomery in charge.
Later still, Mrs Montgomery was to offer her volunteer services for the first year the library came under the aegis of the Los Angeles County Free Library System in 1913. There is some conflict in various accounts as the County Library reports list the first librarian as Alice McDonald. Possibly this merely establishes her as the first PAID librarian. The first shipment of books from L.A. to Hermosa totalled 54 volumes. The current library has a capacity for almost 25,000.
After one year, the Hermosa books collection came to 632 volumes, 12 magazine subscriptions and a circulation of 4,247. Registered users were 392.
The library had many homes. Perhaps the most colorful years were those when the library was housed on the Pier. There the staffers had to cope with gulls, guano, pigeons, noise and smells from the neighboring aquarium. Rough tides shivered the timbers and numerous swimmers wanted to use the restrooms for changing.
Librarians preceding Mrs. Olney include those named above plus Alice McWilliams(nee Alice McDonald?), Mary Ransom, Ruth Anderson, Evalyn S. Morris and Fern Rhein.
Mrs. Olney, librarian of longest record here, joined the Hermosa Library in 1951 and was incharge when the new building opened in 1962 and stayed with us until 1964. Since then we have enjoyed the services of: Elizabeth Davis, Carlotta Hoye, Judith Troland, Lucille Chitwood, Alice Erlandsen Lovelace, Shari Petresky and the incumbent, Louise Mazerov.
Constantly increasing enjoyment and use of the library is attested by a comparison of circulation figures for the first six months of 1962 vs. 1982. Circulation in 1962 for the first six months was 37,864 while in 1982 for the was six months, it was 59,145. Registered borrowers in 1962 were 7,562 while in 1982 there are 7,386 borrowers. Since circulation has greatly increased while the number of borrowers appears stable, it would appear the the same number of people are reading more books.
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JULY 1982 HERMOSA BEACH FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY JULY 1982 Only Yesterday. ...we dedicated the new Hermosa Beach Public Library on August 10, 1962. To commemorate this double decade of library life, Friends of The Library will sponsor an OPEN HOUSE at the Library on Saturday, August 14, 1982.As special guests, retired library staffers Dorothy Olney, Kathryn Dittmar and Carlotta Hoye will be on hand to meet and greet longtime friends. There will be an informal reception from two to four p.m. with refresh- ments being offered in celebration of the event all day long. Steve Izant is Chairman of the event. The first library in Hermosa was an informal alliance by the Mother's Reading Group, according to Mary Hagen. They took turns reading aloud to their combined collection of children. Later this group and some friends developed a circulating library from the Ocean View School (located at the present site of St. Cross Church) with Mrs. Mary Montgomery in charge. Later still, Mrs Montgomery was to offer her volunteer services for the first year the library came under the aegis of the Los Angeles County Free Library System in 1913. County Library reports list the first librarian as Alice McDonald. Possibly 1st the first There is some conflict in various accounts as the this merely establishes her as the first PAID librarian. The first shipment of books from L.A. to Hermosa totalled 54 volumes. The current library has a capacity for almost 25,000. After one year, the Hermosa books collection came to 632 volumes, 12 magazine subscriptions and a circulation of 4,247. Registered users were 392. The library had many homes. Perhaps the most colorful years were those when the library was housed on the Pier. There the staffers had to cope with gulls, guano, pigeons, noise and smells from the neighboring aquarium. Rough tides shivered the timbers and numerous swimmers wanted to use the restrooms for changing. Librarians preceding Mrs. Olney include those named above plus Alice McWilliams (nee Alice McDonald?), Mary Ransom, Ruth Anderson, Evalyn S. Morris and Fern Rhein. Mrs. Olney, librarian of longest record here, joined the Hermosa Library in 1951 and was incharge when the new building opened in 1962 and stayed with us until 1964. Since then we have enjoyed the services of: Elizabeth Davis, Carlotta Hoye, Judith Troland, Lucille Chitwood, Alice Erlandsen Lovelace, Shari Petresky and the incumbent, Louise Mazerov. Constantly increasing enjoyment and use of the library is attested by a comparison of circulation figures for the first six months of 1962 vs. 1982. Circulation in 1962 for the first six months was 37,864 while in 1982 for the was six months, it was 59,145. Registered borrowers in 1962 were 7,562 while in 1982 there are 7,386 borrowers. Since circulation has greatly increased while the number of borrowers appears stable, it would appear the the same number of people are reading more books.