Background
The Alpine Library Association was founded in October 1900. According to its Constitution, the purpose of the organization
was to “[establish] a free public library and reading room in Alpine.” For most of its life, the Association and the Alpine
Public Library were housed in the Women’s Club in Alpine, where members met on a quarterly basis. To raise funds for the library
and its collections, the Association put on events and solicited memberships, monetary and book donations. Prominent members
included Beatrice La Force, who served as Secretary and Librarian, Commander Rudolph Oeser, who served as Treasurer, and Lawrence
Wilber, who served as President in the 1940s and 1950s. The Association dissolved in 1957 when the Alpine Public Library was
incorporated with the San Diego County Library.