Library at the Beach! Ev’rybody Gone Readin’, U.S.A.

The sprawl of Los Angeles ends on the western side at the curving shoreline of Santa Monica Bay. Along the southern portion of that arc lie the “Beach Cities” of the South Bay: Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. A generation ago, when their sandy margins appeared in movies starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and The Beach Boys turned the local surfing scene into legend with their songs, they were scruffy towns of bungalows and resort hotels, removed from the lights of downtown and Hollywood.

While things have changed — McMansions replacing the bungalows and parking meters lining streets that were once unpaved — it’s still southern California. Frankie and Annette may have quit the scene, but all three cities still have those beaches with volleyball nets and their picturesque piers, like Redondo’s, here:

The Beach Boys included both Manhattan and Redondo in their roll call of famous surf spots in “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” but all three communities also have schools, civic centers, fire and police departments, parking meters … and libraries.

In 1885, the City of Redondo Beach assumed management of a reading room the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had established right on the pier’s predecessor, Wharf No. 1, and it became the town’s first library.

The small white building in the very center is the library. Right. On. The. Wharf. Welcome to California, dudes.

In 1909, the growing library relocated to a wing of Redondo City Hall (no longer extant). It continued to expand, and the city began planning for a dedicated library building on a site overlooking the beach, adjacent to Redondo Pier. Voters approved a $50,000 bond issue in 1928, and the new library opened in 1930 in what is now Veteran’s Park.

Designed by author, architect and Redondo resident, Lovel Bearse Pemberton (d. 1934), that style is described as Spanish/Dutch Colonial.

The structure was placed next to a towering Moreton Bay Fig tree. Both building and tree still stand.

The city maintained the library there for 60 years, until the need for earthquake safety retrofitting combined with continued growth of the collection prompted a move to a temporary space in a nearby shopping center in 1991 while a new library was built at a different site. The old structure — reinforced and restored — is now a community center hall, catering to weddings and other events.

The interior retains some of its original character, a large, open space of approximately 7,000 square feet.

There’s a second floor mezzanine from which you can look through a glassed-in archway to the main floor. Originally, that arch contained stained glass that would’ve been backlighted by a skylight that’s still there, directly overhead.

The oak shelving against the walls is part of the original library furnishings.

As I mentioned, the historic library is smack on the edge of the ocean. How’s the view from a library at the beach?

There’s a lower level, too, which today has offices, storage and a commercial kitchen for catering events, bringing the entire space of the relatively small building to a surprisingly large 11,000 square feet.

Although L.A. is a place that celebrates the always-new, always-changing scene, it’s also a place that can value the past, and the old library building is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It looks out at the beach and pier as we celebrate the SoCal life, not only by waxin’ down our boards … We’re Readin’ U.S.A!

Hit it, boys.

At Haggerty’s and Swami’s,
Pacific Palisades,
San Onofre and Sunset,
Redondo Beach, L. A.,
All over La Jolla,
An’ Waimea Bay

Everybody’s gone readin’
Readin’ U.S.A.

Seeing the Historic Library

The Redondo Beach Historic Library is in Veterans Park at 309 Esplanade, Redondo Beach, California. There is metered parking adjacent, as well as in the parking structure at nearby Redondo Beach Pier. You may find street parking on Esplanade or Catalina Streets to the south, but don’t block a driveway or you’ll be towed. The park is free and open to the public, but the facility is open to the public only for scheduled events or by prior arrangement.

 

Exterior photographs of the library and select images from other Under Western Skies posts are available on Shutterstock.com. Click on the linked photos, or CLICK HERE to view the Underawesternsky photo portfolio.

© Brad Nixon 2018. Special thanks to the staff at The Redondo Beach Historic Library venue for their generous assistance. Many of the historical facts courtesy of City of Redondo Beach Public Library website, retrieved July 11, 2018, including archival photo. An obituary of Lovel Bearse Pemberton retrieved July 11, 2017 from newspapers.com, originally from The Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1934, provided some scant biographical background. “Surfin’ USA,” lyrics © Brian Wilson and Capitol Records (music by Chuck Berry, of course).

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