The Altadena Library District is an independent special district that serves the residents of

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downto ...

, an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

community north of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

in the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

. The district was formed in December 1926 under the provision of Sections 19600-19734 of the California Education Code. The district is supported by

property taxes A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...

and governed by a locally elected

Board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboa ...

of Library

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s. according to a May, 2005 California State Department of Finance estimate, the District provides library services to a population of approximately 54,876 people. The system includes the main branch located at 600 E. Mariposa St., and the Bob Lucas Memorial Branch Library and Literacy Center located at 2659 Lincoln Avenue. In addition to the board and the staff, the Altadena Library has an active Friends of the Library which conducts an annual book sale and has a permanent store inside the library. The library has many special programs including

summer reading programs Summer reading programs take place at 95% of public libraries in the United States.Bertot, J.C., Real, B., Lee, J. McDermott, A. J., Jaeger, P.T. (2015). 2014 Digital Inclusion Survey: Survey findings and results. Information Policy and Access Cente ...

, adult

book clubs Book club may refer to: * Book discussion club, a group of people who meet to discuss a book or books that they have read ** Literature circle, a group of students who meet in a classroom to discuss a book or books that they have read * Book sales ...

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...

, a career center, the

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

center and a community room.

History

The library was part of the Los Angeles county system from 1903 to 1927, and was housed at the Altadena Primary School. The first permanent library building on 2366 N. Lake (1936) was replaced in 1967 by the current building on Mariposa. The branch library was dedicated in 1957 and called the Arroyo Seco Branch Library. It was closed in 1978 and reopened in 1991 with a new name: the Bob Lucas Memorial Branch Library and Literacy Center.

Architecture

The main branch is

International Style International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

softened by Asian influence due to the combination of Architects

Boyd Georgi Boyd E. Georgi (January 20, 1914 – October 19, 1999) was an American architect. He was a USC-trained California architect with a Southern California practice in modernism that spanned from residential works to schools and libraries. Georgi was ...

with the influence of

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Erickson, Peters & Thoms who would, in 1979, design the Chinese gardens in the central court of the

Pacific Asia Museum USC Pacific Asia Museum is an Asian art museum located at 46 N. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California, United States. The museum was founded in 1971 by the Pacificulture Foundation, which purchased "The Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Ori ...

. The main branch includes midcentury modern elements of indoor and outdoor design including

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper ...

windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

, and a sunken reading area with a full grown palm tree and

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Ope ...

. The two

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elemen ...

outside the library entrances are by local artist David Oliver Green. Nishan Toor created the "Owl" in the Children's department and the "Lady" in the fern garden. Old growth trees are incorporated into the design. In 2009 the Altadena Library District completed a Master Facility Plan for the Main Library Addition and Renovation. The Altadena Library Board of Trustees held 4 community Design Camps where the public had an opportunity to comment on proposed designs which resulted in "a satisfactory solution that incorporated the planning goals and the preservation goals for both the site and the structure." A final design was approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2009.

References

External links

Altadena Library DistrictCalifornia Education Code
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altadena Library District Altadena, California International style architecture in California Libraries in Los Angeles County, California Modernist architecture in California Education in Pasadena, California San Gabriel Valley