The Earl and Birdie Taylor Library is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The library at 4275 Cass St. in Pacific Beach held its grand opening on May 3, 1997.
Library manager Christina Wainwright, who’s been with the Pacific Beach/Taylor Branch since 2007, said she’s been “lucky enough to live and work in the community for the past 15 years.” She talked about what makes PB’s library branch so special.
“Our library is unique in the San Diego Public Library system in that, in addition to our beautiful building and community meeting space, we have the only park that is managed by San Diego Public Library,” Wainwright said. “We are able to plan programs inside or outdoors.”
Wainwright noted that, in the past year, the PB branch has held community-oriented functions like toddler dance parties and kids’ “storytimes” outside on the Taylor Greene. She added outdoor programs will include monthly concerts on the Cass Street Plaza (beginning May 14 at 4 p.m., through September) and a National Night Out event on Aug. 2 that will include a free movie screening in the park.
“Libraries always strive to serve our community’s needs,” noted Wainwright. “One thing that hasn’t changed since the Taylor Library opened in 1997 is that we still connect our customers to knowledge and to each other. How we do it, though, has evolved over the past 25 years.”
Added Wainwright: “Even five years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of being able to check out free wi-fi hotspots to our library cardholders. Yet, we’ve been offering hotspots through the Access 4 All program since last year.”
Janet Yeager, now manager of Carmel Mountain Ranch Library, is the only staff member in San Diego’s library system left who worked at PB’s library branch when the new location was opened. She shared some memories about being a library assistant II (clerk) at that time.
“I was assigned to the old Pacific Beach Branch Library (intersection of Ingraham and Felspar) as my first full-time position for the San Diego Public Library,” said Yeager. “When I arrived, the staff and Friends of the Library were already preparing for the move, which was about a year away. Prior to the move, the Friends sponsored a cocktail party at Crystal Pier in order to raise funds for the new location.”
Noting the old PB branch was “lacking the amenities of modern libraries, including a parking lot and a meeting room,” Yeager noted: “The community was looking forward to a new location that was much larger in size, would have a meeting room, parking lots, and a dedicated book-sale room.”
According to Yeager, when the time for the move to Cass Street arrived, then-branch manager Philip Detwiler explained to the staff how to properly pack books into boxes, so that when the boxes were unloaded, they would be in proper order on the shelves.
Recalled Yeager: “The opening day of the new branch was attended by members of the Taylor family and the City Council. Extra staff was called in to help from other library locations in order to assist the large number of patrons who visited.”
Added Yeager: “Some of the memories of my first year at the branch include an under-sea mural, which was created for the branch by a local artist. Internet access, as well as access to Microsoft Word and Excel, were relatively new services offered by the library. Staff often helped patrons to save their files on floppy disc drives or explained how to sign up for email access through Hotmail or Yahoo.”
PB’s library is one of 35 branches in the City of San Diego Public Library system serving the informational, educational and recreational interests of San Diego through its central library downtown, along with the READ/San Diego literacy program as well as maintaining an online presence.
SDPL is a popular destination that connects diverse communities to free educational and cultural resources that will enrich their lives. With 6.6 million visitors, the library is the largest cultural institution in San Diego offering free programming.
SDPL serves more than 1.4 million residents encompassing an area of 342 square miles. The system’s collection has more than 5.3 million books, including e-books and audio-visual materials. The collection also boasts 1.6 million government documents, along with more than 265,295 books in 25 languages other than English.
HISTORY OF PACIFIC BEACH/TAYLOR BRANCH LIBRARY
Officially opened in 1997, the Earl and Birdie Taylor Library was built thanks to donations from the Taylor family, library supporters, and early real estate developers in Pacific Beach. The 12,484-square-foot library is walking distance from the beach at 4275 Cass St. on a city block dedicated to the library facility and passive park space.
Architect Manuel Oncina designed the library building to be open and airy, resembling the form of a nautilus shell to incorporate the natural beauty of the ocean. Featuring a large meeting room, projection screen, and grand piano, the library is a destination for community groups and performers. The Pacific Beach community has been home to a library since 1914 when the original library operated from inside the lobby of the Pacific Beach Women’s Club on Hornblend Street.
