Ferndale, CA

Ferndale Library - Early Years

Celebrating 100 Years in April of 2010

Ferndale residents had started their own “library” by 1880 in the way of a “Reading Room” that housed approximately 200 volumes, location unknown, mentioned in the Ferndale Enterprise in 1880 in an advertisement.

In March of 1904, the local Native Daughters formed a committee to look into the establishment of a free library in Ferndale and a new public library opened in the Paine Building in November of the same year. At the end of the first month, the library contained 689 books, a good supply of newspapers and magazines, and an ever-changing set of 50 books, changing every 3 to 6 months, with the Traveling Libraries System of the California Sate Library.

Library Hours:

In 1908, the Town Trustees applied for a Carnegie donation of $8,000 for a new library. In April, that application was approved and it became imperative that a location be decided upon. The library had been moved from one place to another a couple of times over the years and would be moved yet again into a temporary location while the building was under construction.

On April 30, 1909, the contractors broke ground at 807 Main Street, the current location of the Carnegie Library Building. By mid-May, the books were being packed up and boxed for moving into the new building later in the year. In December, the shelves were going in, and other finishing work was being done, but there were no windows and some electrical fixtures were still missing due to the late arrival of the materials from the east.

A year after breaking ground, in April of 1910, the new Ferndale Carnegie Library Building was open, with numerous amenities, including a “furnace that works to perfection, [that] takes but a small quantity of wood to keep the rooms comfortably warm.” The new library opened to the public and hosted a celebration tea.

Ferndale Library - Today

The building and the insides were finished, but the grounds were not well attended to until October of 1911, as stated in the Ferndale Enterprise, “Editorial… The ladies of the Village Club are to be commended for the efforts they are making to beautifying the grounds of the Ferndale public library. It is time that the grounds were put into a condition attractive to the eye instead of being allowed to remain in their present back-yard state…”

The first year was a battle with the cows that pastured behind the building, as nothing could keep them off the grounds. By August of 1912 however, the problem had been solved with some concrete walls and sidewalks. The landscaping of the Library Building was completed and has been a credit to the town ever since. That big red-leafed tree was planted as a sapling at this time, by-the-way!

In 1915, the Humboldt County Library system was established and the Ferndale Library became a branch of the county system. This gave them a much larger collection for their patrons to draw from and gave them the benefit of being part of a larger organization.

The “perfect” furnace was replaced in 1926 with a pipeless system that has been replaced at least once or twice since then with whatever was currently most efficient!

As far as recorded history goes, not much happened over the next 50 years or so. Then, in 1977, the Georgia Russ Williams Memorial Wing was added. This was the first remodeling ever done on the building and included the Children’s Room, a new side entrance with ramp access, new carpeting, paint and wall covering, and a second floor storage area. This greatly expanded the available area and the library grew to match the growth of the town.

Then, another 20 years later, in 1996, there was another renovation that added a new forced air heating system, fans to increase air circulation, more new carpeting and paint, conversion of the old brick hearth into wooden bench seating, a downstairs storage room, a remodeled bathroom to be accessible to the disabled, and the replacement of water-damaged, leaky windows and transoms. Now the library would be warm, cozy and dry for the books and for the patrons!

And now it’s been 100 years since the Carnegie Library Building was completed in 1910. It has served the community very well over the years and we are all thankful to have it. There will be parties and celebrations for this centennial birthday that are in the planning stages now. Watch this space for information as it develops, then be there when we celebrate 100 years of excellent library service from our building and the folks that have worked extra hard to keep it going!

For more information visit the library web page.

Information gleaned from: Bonnie at the Library, the Carnegie Libraries website, Where The Ferns Grow Tall by the Ferndale High Class of 1977, and The CAGenWeb Project.