Cahuenga Branch
Encyclopedia
Cahuenga Branch is the third oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library
system. Located at 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard in the East Hollywood
section of Los Angeles
, it was built in 1916 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie
. One of three surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles, it has been designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument and listed in the National Register of Historic Places
.
. The architect was Clarence H. Russell (1874–1942), who was also associated with Norman F. Marsh in building the Venice canals
. Though the building and equipment were paid for through the Carnegie grant, the land itself was purchased by the city with the cost being paid through an assessment district. The library was originally planned for the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue
, but the land at Santa Monica and Madison was chosen "because it was less expensive."
Constructed of brick and concrete at a cost of $34,000, the library was built in a clover leaf or butterfly pattern "whereby the entire floor may be supervised from a centrally located delivery desk." The first floor included a children's department, overflow reading room, fiction section, reference room and adult reading room. The basement contained an auditorium with a seating capacity of 300 persons. The branch also included an "open air reading room" at the northwest corner on the Madison Avenue side. The building's exterior also presents an impressive facade. The building is designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style with a high basement, a low-pitched overhanging hip roof of clay tiles, and a tawny-colored tapestry brick facing. "The front elevation is symmetrical, and is dominated by a large, formal entranceway featuring a double stairway with matching volutes leading up from the sidewalk to the portal where it forms a veranda with classical balustrade."
The city's Handbook of the Branch Libraries described the Cahuenga Branch as follows: "It is a substantial and dignified Italian faced building faced with brick laid in pattern and panels, with a grand exterior central stairway leading upward to the main entrance and down to the basement club room and auditorium."
At the opening ceremony on December 4, 1916, City Librarian Everett Perry gave a speech welcoming the East Hollywood community to the new library. Perry encouraged the community to make full use of the books and other resources, including the auditorium and children's story hour. In describing the scope of the books available at the branch, Perry made comments that might have been viewed a century later as sexist or puritanical:
Carnegie paid for a total of six libraries in Los Angeles, and only three of the Carnegie libraries remain: Cahuenga, Vermont Square
and Lincoln Heights
.
. Also within a one-mile (1.6 km) radius of the branch are the Braille Institute, Barnsdall Art Park
(site of Frank Lloyd Wright
's Hollyhock House
), KCET
public television station, Children's Hospital
, and Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital
. The proximity of these centers led to great demand for the library resources at the Cahuenga Branch.
wrote at the time: "Before it closed for its make-over in 1990, the Cahuenga branch was a dark and grotty hole, a spirit-shriveler of a place that was intended to uplift -- 'the scariest place I ever worked,' one of its alumni librarians declared -- and indeed, the only people who found it perfect were the film crews that made horror movies in its vanished gloom."
In additional to the physical plant, the renovation work included installation of computer work stations and other technological upgrades as part of the "Libraries Online!" project funded by Bill Gates
and Microsoft Corporation. The confluence of funding at opposite ends of the century by two of the world's wealthiest men, one a steel baron, the other a silicon baron, led Patt Morrison to write: "What a collision of history that these two men, Carnegie and Gates, financial visionaries born more than a century apart, would intersect at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Madison Avenue."
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The Cahuenga Branch was designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument (#314) by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1986. In 1987, the Lincoln Heights Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the National Register of Historic Places
as part of a thematic group submission. The application noted that the branch libraries had been constructed in a variety of period revival styles to house the initial branch library system of the City of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...
system. Located at 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard in the East Hollywood
East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
East Hollywood is a community that forms the eastern portion of the Hollywood district in the City of Los Angeles, California.East Hollywood encompasses part of Hollywood east of Western Avenue and north of, according to East Hollywood.net, the 101 Hollywood Freeway; however in other sources,...
section of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, it was built in 1916 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
. One of three surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles, it has been designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument and listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Construction and opening
The Caheunga Branch was the last of six branch libraries built with a $210,000 grant from steel baron Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
. The architect was Clarence H. Russell (1874–1942), who was also associated with Norman F. Marsh in building the Venice canals
Venice Canal Historic District
The Venice Canal Historic District is a district in the Venice section of Los Angeles, California. The district is noteworthy for its man-made canals built in 1905 by developer Abbot Kinney as part of his Venice of America plan. Kinney sought to recreate the appearance and feel of Venice, Italy...
. Though the building and equipment were paid for through the Carnegie grant, the land itself was purchased by the city with the cost being paid through an assessment district. The library was originally planned for the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
, but the land at Santa Monica and Madison was chosen "because it was less expensive."
Constructed of brick and concrete at a cost of $34,000, the library was built in a clover leaf or butterfly pattern "whereby the entire floor may be supervised from a centrally located delivery desk." The first floor included a children's department, overflow reading room, fiction section, reference room and adult reading room. The basement contained an auditorium with a seating capacity of 300 persons. The branch also included an "open air reading room" at the northwest corner on the Madison Avenue side. The building's exterior also presents an impressive facade. The building is designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style with a high basement, a low-pitched overhanging hip roof of clay tiles, and a tawny-colored tapestry brick facing. "The front elevation is symmetrical, and is dominated by a large, formal entranceway featuring a double stairway with matching volutes leading up from the sidewalk to the portal where it forms a veranda with classical balustrade."
The city's Handbook of the Branch Libraries described the Cahuenga Branch as follows: "It is a substantial and dignified Italian faced building faced with brick laid in pattern and panels, with a grand exterior central stairway leading upward to the main entrance and down to the basement club room and auditorium."
At the opening ceremony on December 4, 1916, City Librarian Everett Perry gave a speech welcoming the East Hollywood community to the new library. Perry encouraged the community to make full use of the books and other resources, including the auditorium and children's story hour. In describing the scope of the books available at the branch, Perry made comments that might have been viewed a century later as sexist or puritanical:
"Your boy can borrow here books on wireless telegraphy or raising rabbits; your girl, books on sewing or cooking. ... In the room just behind the main desk will be shelved the fiction collection. Do not be surprised if you do not find here the latest novel that you have heard discussed or seen advertised. There is much trash published nowadays in the form of novels and it is the policy of this library to exclude such materials from its collections, and to buy only what is wholesome. There are far more novels at the same time wholesome, entertaining and inspiring, than any of us can find time to read, and it is not necessary to turn to the coarse and sensational."
Carnegie paid for a total of six libraries in Los Angeles, and only three of the Carnegie libraries remain: Cahuenga, Vermont Square
Vermont Square Branch
Vermont Square Branch is the oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library system. Located about a mile southwest of the University of Southern California campus, in the Vermont Square district, it was built in 1913 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie...
and Lincoln Heights
Lincoln Heights Branch
Lincoln Heights Branch is the second oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library system. Located in the Lincoln Heights section of Los Angeles, California, it was built in the Classical Revival and Italian Renaissance Revival styles in 1916 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie...
.
Surrounding community
The branch was situated in a part of the city with many educational, cultural and medical institutions. The original campus of UCLA was located near the Cahuenga Branch, and even after UCLA moved in the late 1920s, its old campus was occupied by what became Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
. Also within a one-mile (1.6 km) radius of the branch are the Braille Institute, Barnsdall Art Park
Barnsdall Art Park
The Barnsdall Art Park has as its mission the presentation, promotion, enrichment, and development of the arts and artists of the Los Angeles region in all its cultural diversity...
(site of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
's Hollyhock House
Hollyhock House
The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House is a building in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, built in 1919–1921...
), KCET
KCET
KCET, channel 28, is an independent, non-commercial public television station licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KCET's studio is located on West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is atop Mount Wilson. Al Jerome is the current CEO and President, serving since 1996.KCET was...
public television station, Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles, formerly Childrens Hospital Society, is a private, non-profit teaching hospital in Los Angeles. The hospital provides multidisciplinary care to over 93,000 children each year, with physician expertise in over 100 pediatric specialties and subspecialties.The hospital...
, and Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center
Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, formerly known as Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, is a private hospital located at 1300 North Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The hospital has 434 beds.-History:...
. The proximity of these centers led to great demand for the library resources at the Cahuenga Branch.
World War I
During World War I, the Cahuenga Branch (like other city libraries) turned over a portion of its space to war-related activities. One area resident recalled, "I remember when they were rolling bandages in the Library Auditorium during World War I, and they used to have community sings every week." Over 100 people attended the community sings until the 1918 flu epidemic put an end to such gaterhings.Ethnic diversification
By the 1960s and 1970s, old residents of East Hollywood were moving to the suburbs, and increasing numbers of Asians, Latinos, Russians and Armenians moved into the area. In order to serve its non-English speaking community, the Cahuenga Branch received funds from the federal government in the early 1970s to hire a multi-lingual staff, offer classes in English and citizenship, and to host live entertainment and festivals for the community.Closure and renovation
In 1990, the Cahuenga Branch closed when it was discovered that it did not meet earthquake safety codes. The branch was moved to temporary space at 4627 Santa Monica Boulevard for the next six years while the old building underwent seismic and renovation work. In 1996, the renovation work was completed, and the Cahuenga Branch reopened. Columnist Patt MorrisonPatt Morrison
Patt Morrison is a journalist, author, and radio—television personality based in Los Angeles and Southern California.-Media:Morrison is a writer for the Los Angeles Times, with the weekly 'Patt Morrison Asks' column, and received the Joseph M. Quinn award in 2000 from the Los Angeles Press Club...
wrote at the time: "Before it closed for its make-over in 1990, the Cahuenga branch was a dark and grotty hole, a spirit-shriveler of a place that was intended to uplift -- 'the scariest place I ever worked,' one of its alumni librarians declared -- and indeed, the only people who found it perfect were the film crews that made horror movies in its vanished gloom."
In additional to the physical plant, the renovation work included installation of computer work stations and other technological upgrades as part of the "Libraries Online!" project funded by Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
and Microsoft Corporation. The confluence of funding at opposite ends of the century by two of the world's wealthiest men, one a steel baron, the other a silicon baron, led Patt Morrison to write: "What a collision of history that these two men, Carnegie and Gates, financial visionaries born more than a century apart, would intersect at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Madison Avenue."
Historic designation
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as part of a thematic group submission. The application noted that the branch libraries had been constructed in a variety of period revival styles to house the initial branch library system of the City of Los Angeles.
See also
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Public LibraryLos Angeles Public LibraryThe Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...