 | | | Photos courtesy Orinda Historical Society | | | | | | It began as a single shelf of books in a small school of a largely summer community - a collection so tiny that it was classified as a "deposit station" rather than a library. It was 1914, and the first seeds of what would eventually blossom into a 21st century garden for bibliophiles were just being planted by Mrs. Artie Berger - Orinda's first librarian.
Circulation reached nearly 3,000 before that year was out, and continued to climb. One shelf became a four-by-four bookcase and, with the help of the PTA, the diminutive deposit station moved from the Orinda Park School to E.I. de Laveaga's Orinda Store just over a decade later. A new librarian, Mrs. Dawson, who had been earning just $120 per year at the beginning of her tenure, took a 25 percent pay cut to keep the doors open during the Depression. She stayed until her retirement in 1954.
After achieving stability following a 1935 relocation to Orinda's remodeled firehouse, library operations ground to a halt in 1944 when Contra Costa County sold the structure. But Virginia Phair rode to the rescue by lobbying county administrators, the Orinda Community Church and the local Lions Club for help. By 1949, patrons were packing yet another cramped but beloved haven for booklovers - this time in a cozy room below the church's classroom for kids.
By the mid-20th century, it was the women of Van Ripper Lane who were rippin' and runnin'. As the charter members of the Orinda Junior Women's Club, they polled the community and determined that Orindans needed and wanted their own branch library and, in April 1954, brought the Lions Club and Orinda Women's Club together with Contra Costa County's new head librarian to begin making the community's dream a reality.
Funds were raised, books were purchased, and an architect was hired. The Orinda Library Board was incorporated, and the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in recognition of the community's efforts. By 1956, Orinda's collection numbered nearly 61,000, library hours were increasing, and planners knew their new structure would be built on the corner of Irwin Way and what is now Orinda Way. Fundraising ramped up further as the Orinda Association, churches, Chamber of Commerce members, and other organizations came on board, and 400 block captains began nudging neighbors to give and give again. Even the State Board of Education joined in, offering to provide oversight of door-to-door solicitation.
Finally, on Nov. 14, 1958, the new $125,000 Orinda Library was dedicated. It housed 94,700 books. The Friends of the Orinda Library - an organization known today for its innovative programming of concerts and other special events - was founded in 1959. An addition to the library opened in 1971. The City of Orinda assumed responsibility for library maintenance in 1995.
A year later, the community would take another giant leap forward as the City of Orinda animated the "Heart of Orinda" - a plan destined to transform the Orinda Village by moving the library into a new structure to be built near the Orinda Community Center and new city offices. After raising $5 million within a 2-year period to fund most of the new library's construction while also leading the charge to pass an 8-year, $27 city parcel tax to fund programs and staffing, Friends of the Library and their fellow Orindans celebrated the opening of the library at its present location on Oct. 7, 2001.
Today, as the Orinda Library begins its second century of life, the complex is a beehive of activity with patrons buzzing through 1,981 shelves filled with books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and other materials, and visitors from across the Bay Area flitting from city council meetings to art exhibitions to toddler yoga to winter concerts in front of the fireplace or Chamber of Commerce and Orinda Historical Society activities - before relaxing over coffee with friends at the ground floor cafÇ.
"If you have a garden and a library," said Cicero, "you have everything you need."
To learn more about the Orinda Library visit: www.friendsofhteorindalibrary.org/.
Orinda Library - 100th Anniversary Celebration
May 17, 3-5 p.m.
Library Plaza (outside): Music, cupcakes and balloons; trivia contest with prizes; gift basket raffle.
Garden Room (inside): Quilting talk and display by award-winning Orinda quilter, Liz Platt.
Gallery Room (inside): Birthday crafts with Orinda children's librarian, Lin Look.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA