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Finding Aid of Whittier Public Library Institutional Records
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Title: Finding Aid of Whittier Public Library Institutional Records
Dates: 1906-2001
Collection Number: Consult library
Creator/Collector:
Whittier Public Library
Extent: 26 boxes, 3 file cabinet drawers
Repository:
Whittier Public Library
Whittier, California 90602
Abstract: Whittier Public Library Institutional Records includes reports, statistics, minutes, policies, newsletters, articles, ephemera,
scrapbooks, and photographs, created and retained throughout the 20th century.
Language of Material: English
Collection open for research by appointment and under the supervision of a librarian. Held in the Whittier History Room.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Finding Aid of Whittier Public Library Institutional Records. Whittier Public Library
Most of these items were brought to the Whittier History Room from various locations within the library in 2016.
Biography/Administrative History
The City of Whittier was founded in 1887 as a Quaker colony. In 1900, the population had grown to 3,000 and the town felt
the need for a public library. Concerned citizens, including the Whittier Christian Temperance Union, held the first meeting
of the Library Board of Trustees on April 17, 1900. A reading room opened and was housed in various buildings in Uptown Whittier.
In 1905 three lots at the corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Bailey Street were purchased with funding from the Carnegie Foundation.
The new Carnegie Library opened June 29, 1907.
The current Whittier Public Library facility opened June 1, 1959 in the Whittier Civic Center. Designed by William H. Harrison
it occupied 27,845 square feet, which increased to 34.543 square feet upon completion of the mezzanine in 1974. The original
design was one of openness and flexibility, with an abundance of natural light.
The Whittwood Branch, also designed by William H. Harrison, opened in East Whittier in June of 1968 and reopened again in
December of 2012 following a major expansion/renovation.
Scope and Content of Collection
Series I (top drawer of file cabinet & one archive box for oversize papers): Usage statistics of the library as a whole (1907-1955,
1971-1995), as well as separate statistics of the Children's department (1911-1957); Librarian's Monthly Reports (1903-1960);
Annual Reports to the American Library Association (1926-1945); Annual Reports to the Board of Trustees (1905-1960); and Annual
Reports to the State Library (1907-1955).
Series II (middle drawer of file cabinet): Building data; newsletters; program fliers.
Series III (bottom drawer of file cabinet): Whittwood Branch building data; Friends of the Library minutes; Library Board
of Trustees minutes; staff manuals.
Series IV (one archive box): School visit notes, Children's Dept., 1967-1977.
Series V (22 archive boxes): Scrapbooks commemorating the Summer Reading Program, 1949-1998.
Series VI (two archive boxes): Friends of the Whittwood Branch Library scrapbooks, 1967-1983.
Series VII (two archive boxes): Children's Dept. Spanish-language community outreach scrapbooks, 1991, 1993.
Public libraries
Whittier (Calif.)