The San Diego Central Library is the main branch of the

San Diego Public Library The San Diego Public Library is a public library system serving San Diego, California. History The San Diego Public Library was established on May 19, 1882, by an elected board of library trustees, one of whom was civic leader and philant ...

. It is located in the East Village neighborhood of

downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the central business district of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. It houses the major local headquarters of the city, county, state, and federal governments. The area comprises seven d ...

Description and history

In 1952, the existing Carnegie Library was demolished; the updated Central Library was opened at the same location on June 27, 1954. In 2010, construction began on a new, $184.9 million, central city library at 330 Park Boulevard in

. After fifty years, the Central Library closed, permanently, on June 9, 2013, commencing the 10-week process of transferring its 2.6-million-item collection to the new location. Over the years, many branch libraries have been opened throughout San Diego. The 9-story structure was designed by San Diego architect Rob Wellington Quigley. It is topped with an iconic steel-and-mesh lattice dome over a two-story rare book reading-room. It opened on September 30, 2013. The library displays numerous books and collections, including th
Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center
It has been part of the

Federal Depository Library Program The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a government program created to make Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. there are 1,114 depository libraries in the U ...

since 1895 and part of the California State Depository program since 1945. The Center houses the second largest collection of baseball memorabilia in the U.S. It was founded in 2000, with a donation of books from the

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and statistical record of baseball. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on Au ...

. By 2012, its collection included thousands of books, films, magazines,

baseball cards A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

and other collector’s items, with an aim to be the "go-to place for baseball research west of the Mississippi". The Central Library also houses a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

high school, e3 Civic High School, which is billed as the only school in the U.S. to be housed within a library. The school is located on the sixth and seventh floors of the library and is visible to, but not accessible by, the public. The school serves grades 9-12. It opened several weeks ahead of the library, on September 3, 2013, with an initial student body of 260 ninth and tenth graders. The junior and senior grades were added in 2014 and 2015, resulting in a student body of approximately 500. Since May of 2018 there has been a noticeable increase in crimes and disturbances surrounding the San Diego Public Library. The Library has taken measures to counteract these incidents, including stationing up to 9 guards each day, trained to administer

naloxone Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan among others, is an opioid antagonist, a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. For example, it is used to restore breathing after an opioid overdose. Effects begin within two ...

, used to reverse the effects of

opioid overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression, a lethal conditio ...

. According to news outlets in January, San Diego police lieutenant Ryan Hallahan told the news that they are increasing enforcement in the area going forward following complaints over the safety of children attending e3 Civic High inside the facility. In recent years the amount of calls the San Diego Police Department receives surrounding the Library number to at least one call per day.

Awards

In 2013, the Central Library received several awards. It received the National Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering, and the Decorative Concrete Council, a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors awarded the library "Best of Show". The Central Library also received an Orchid Award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation's Orchids & Onions Awards.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Architecture, Education, California 1954 establishments in California 2013 establishments in California Libraries in San Diego Library buildings completed in 1954 Library buildings completed in 2013 Public libraries in California