Attorney Arthur E. Dawes felt a need to bring books and the
opportunities books provide to the rural communities surrounding
Houston. His efforts and encouragement brought about the Harris
County Library System. In the fall of 1920, the plans for the system
were on the drawing board. The first budget allotted by the county
for the fiscal year 1921 was $6,500. Miss Lucy Fuller became the
Harris County Library System’s first librarian in May 1921. Within
six months of operation, there existed twenty-six library stations
recording in the annual report a circulation of 19,574 with a volume
of 3,455 books.
The libraries in the
cities of Pasadena and Moonshine Hill were added to the growing
total of forty-one library stations in the one year old system. A
library station housing one hundred books in a room in Pasadena High
School opened in April 1922. The new Pasadena library shared the
system budget in 1922 of $12,000. The first year’s report showed a
circulation of 1,511 books and at least six visits by the county
library director. Until 1935, the county staffed these library
stations with “volunteer custodians” who were usually teachers. This
was a natural progression since most of the library stations were
housed in public schools.
In the summer of
1923, the Pasadena Library moved to a new location in a steel locker
in the lobby of the main Post Office on Shaw under the direction of
Mrs. S.E. Larkin. Clinton Wanger was to be in charge when the
library was open on Thursdays from three to five in the afternoon.
The newly moved library circulated 2,263 books during 1923. In 1924,
the Pasadena Library requested reading lists from the county library
for youth books to be used by teachers and principals. The first
records (1925) indicating earnings for the Pasadena volunteer
custodians show that the Pasadena Parent Teacher Association “agreed
to pay a small sum as salary for the Pasadena librarian”. Between
the summer of 1923 and 1930, the Pasadena Library was for a time
housed in the Masonic building. Mrs. Ethel Hargrave became librarian
in 1926, and the staff included Mrs. Marguerite Wolf, the branch
supervisor. Circulation rose from 1,734 books in 1926 to 6,089 books
in 1929.
The Pasadena library
station moved into the new City Hall building in July 1930. A front
room, with a separate entrance, with steel shelving and temporary
furniture was arranged through the cooperation of the Pasadena City
Commissioners. An additional afternoon of opening was immediately
allowed, and the library rapidly developed into a busy center”. The
1930 circulation was 7,208 books. The average cost of circulating a
book in the county system in 1930 was .116 per book.
Circulation in 1931
was 9,750 books. This grew to a circulation of 9,929 books in 1933.
The county report for 1934 records “ a small collection of books was
placed in the Santa Anna Home for transient Boys at Pasadena “. The
home circulated 582 books in 1934. The Pasadena Library circulated
10,028 books in 1934 and in 1936 circulated the fourth largest
number of books in the county with a total of 15,540. Records show
that the Pasadena Library consistently ranged third and fourth in
yearly circulation counts on a system wide basis.
The year 1936 marked
the fourteenth anniversary of the Pasadena Library. An excerpt from
a news article that appeared in the South Houston Times and the News
Tribune is as follows:
Invites the citizens
to an anniversary open house to “stimulate” reading among the
registered borrowers and to acquaint the new families of the
community with the books available at the library. Visitors will be
greeted by the County Librarian, Miss Elenora Edgar; custodian, Mrs.
Ethel Hargrave and branch supervisor, Mrs. Marguerite Wolf together
with other members of the County Library staff. Special exhibits of
books are planned for the library day. There will be one specialized
farming; such as bee culture, poultry raising and truck gardening.
New books on Texas will be displayed. These are especially
interesting because of the Centennial celebration. Another group of
books will be helpful to housewives, giving new information on
quilting, canning, child care and training. Picture Books will be
shown to entertain the children.
In appraising the
Pasadena Library from its birth in 1922 through 1936, it is clear
that its fourteenth anniversary celebration was typical of the
striving to give the best kind of service to citizens that it was
possible to give.
The Pasadena Branch
was moved into a much larger and cooler room of the City Hall during
the summer of 1939. The Pasadena Library moved August 21, 1941 to
the home of Mrs. Ola Mae Kennedy on the corner of Broadway and Vince
streets, on the block behind the high school. The library had a
separate entrance and was open every afternoon from 2 to 5.
Ethel Hargrave was
the librarian during these migrant years. A newspaper article
featuring Mrs. Hargrave called her “one of the busiest business
women in Pasadena”. She gave of her talents as a volunteer custodian
and paid librarian from 1926 until her death in 1946. During these
twenty years she saw the library change in size and scope She wrote
many book reviews for local newspapers. She also married H.J.
Burnett.
After Mrs. Burnett’s
death, the library faced an uncertain future. Mary Pitre was the
librarian in May of 1946 when they had to move from the Kennedy
house. In June 1946, the city of Pasadena made tentative plans to
build a $15,000 library building. The 33 by 44 foot structure was to
be constructed so that a wing for a reading room could be added at a
later date. The building was to be centrally located, perhaps on a
school campus, so that it would be accessible to school children.
While the city
commissioners made plans to construct a library building, the
library moved into temporary quarters in a P.I.S.D. home economics
building. This move seems to have been made because of a possibility
of the county moving the book collection to Houston. Concerned
Reading Club representatives appealed to the City Commissioners,
adding, “once the library is moved, it would be next to impossible
to get it back”. A tentative site on the eastside of Shaver mid-way
between the senior and junior high school was proposed as the most
convenient. Meanwhile, a space was reserved in the near completed
Jensen Arcade building to house the library, in case the new project
was not completed at the opening of the school year in September.
This was the agreement made with school officials at the time the
books were moved into the home economics building. Shortly
thereafter the city commissioners canceled its contract for
construction of the $15,000 building because of what the
commissioners termed “excessive costs”.
In January 1947, the
city commissioners gave tentative approval for the purchase of the
Memorial Building recently completed by the American Legion &
Veterans of Foreign Wars. One stipulation for the purchase of the
building was that it be used to house the Pasadena Library. The
Legion and VFW would continue to use the facilities as well as other
groups; such as boy scout and girl scout groups. During the time the
library was in the Memorial Building, Dalia May Neeley was librarian
for 18 months. During her time as librarian, the position became a
full time one and the library was opened for the first time on
Saturdays.
By July 1949, the
library in the Memorial Building was cramped. The space served 1000
readers and housed 2,415 books. Mayor Sam Hoover reported that “the
county library is furnishing a limited service to Pasadena at this
time. A larger building, properly located, will make it possible for
the county library to render an expanded service and will serve as a
depository for local citizens who wish to contribute books,
educational series sets, and so forth as the nucleus of a permanent
library here.” The librarian Mrs. A. J. Pitre was appointed chairman
of a committee to plan a building that would house a recreation
room, a small kitchen, closets and rest rooms. A new library
building for $160,000 was part of a $2,367,000 city improvement bond
program. The proposal for the library was defeated by the voters in
January, 1950.
The manager of Shell
Oil Company Dr. MPL Love offered Shell’s financial assistance. Mayor
Whiteside proposed the construction of a library for the citizens of
Pasadena with Shell’s assistance. A T-shape building covering 4,500
square feet was designed by Cowell & Neuhaus, and built on a city
owned lot on Tatar Street, by Mann Construction Company for
$100,000. The park commissioner Clyde Gary said of the public
library, “We know that we have the most beautiful library building
of any community comparable to Pasadena and hope that it will be the
best library anywhere; serving the needs of both adults and
children.” The book collection consisted of 1,000 books collected by
the citizens of Pasadena for their new building and another 3,000
books belonging to the Harris County system. The building was
dedicated in January, 1953. Miss Dorothy Steidtmann, librarian in
the reference library at the University of Houston, with
twenty-three years library experience, assumed the duties of the
library director on February 16, 1953, with an annual salary of
$4,000.00. Miss Steidtmann built a dedicated staff, trained
employees who had no previous experience, and won the admiration of
her employees through her ability and devotion to the new library
and its patrons. These same patrons had given $3,129 in a fund drive
to show their support of the new library. $1,000 of this collection
was contributed by Champion Paper.
In January 1953, the
first library board was formed. The first governing board met on
March 12, 1953. The members were: Vincent Henrich, Mrs. Ted
Pasternak, Mrs. R.C. Williams, Mrs. Neva Long, Reverend J.E. Parse,
S.R. Jones, Jr. and Harvey Cole. “Honorary lifetime members “were
Dr. MPL Love, the manager of Shell Oil Company and Mr. B.M. Downey,
manager of Shell Chemical Company. These gentlemen made finances
possible for the construction of the Tatar Street building. In
February 1953, the sum of $25,000 was voted for the library in a
bond issue. This money was to be used for much needed books in the
new building.
Within one year of
opening the first activities for the library were as follows; an art
show, story hour for the young people, craft displays, book mending
demonstrations for staff, adult art classes, and the setting up of a
Memorial Book Foundation for the giving of memorial gifts to the
library by its patrons. Barely nine months old, the library
collected 4,136 books and circulated 29,539 books. There were 4,308
registered patrons and a staff of three full time people.
Arrangements were made to keep county library books in the new
Pasadena Library until September 1953, at which time they would be
turned back to the county, and the public library would stand alone
with its own collection of books. The library budget for 1954 was
$15,052, which was a good first step from the first working budget
of $10,400. By December 1954, the library had circulated 30,000
books or seven times the number of books in the entire library.
Dorothy Steidtmann resigned upon her marriage in 1955. Mrs. Haydon
Sypert was acting director until the vacancy could be filled
On August 22, 1955,
Parker Williams assumed the duties of director of the library. A
young woman, full of energy, Miss Williams is remembered by her
staff as personable, able to get needed cooperation within the city
government, as one who liked challenge, and held the respect of her
loyal employees. Her drive to place the needs of the library as an
important part of city management saw the library as part of a bond
vote in September 1955. The proposition for the library was $100,000
for “Improvements which are badly needed there. Books and equipment
are necessary. The library must grow along with the city”. Of the
ten proposals on the total bond vote, the library and a new city
auditorium were defeated.
In the spring of
1956, the finance commissioner Troy Crawford proposed another bond
vote to include the library for $125,000 ($100,000 for the books and
fixtures). With plans for a vote on a city charter change in the
works, the bond issue plans were dropped.
The third time being
the charm: in October 1959 another bond vote was held bearing a
total of $5,812,894. The proposal for $300,000 for a new library was
finally approved. Much work had been done behind the scenes and a
decision was made not to expand the Tatar Street library, but to
construct a new building. Plans were talked about for using the
Tatar Street building for a “location in which various organizations
and clubs could meet” of “a municipal auditorium” or “a municipally
operated rest home for elderly people.” None of these plans came
about and the building was finally sold to doctors for office space.
On August 1, 1960, Mrs. Virginia Schwartz joined the staff as
assistant director. She was librarian in Texas City. By March 1961
construction bids were finally awarded. The new building cost
$300,000 equipped, and was located on a tract of land valued at
$45,000, just behind the Pasadena City Hall. It was built by Pyramid
Construction Company and designed by Doughtie and Porterfield, AIA.
The library was designed to hold 100,000 books. The building design
was contemporary; with a solar screen of tile some 3 or 4 feet away
from the glass walls of the building. It contained a meeting hall
holding 75 people.
In the midst of
building construction, Parker Williams resigned to assume the duties
of librarian of the newly formed San Jacinto College on September 1,
1961. The city council named Virginia Schwartz acting director, and
later director of the library. The Minerva Street library had a
seating capacity of 168, parking for 100 cars, two listening booths,
a community room, a glassed-in central patio, a fireplace facing two
directions and no steps at the entrance. With the new building ready
for occupancy, the Tatar Street library packed and moved its 24,000
volumes to the Minerva Street library on April 2, 1962. At this time
the library had circulated over 200,000 books to patrons holding
25,381 cards.
The library opened
its doors for business on Wednesday, April 18, 1962. 15,000 books
were checked out and 536 new library patrons got library cards. The
San Jacinto Bank furnished landscaping and furnishings for the
enclosed patio and the First Pasadena State Bank furnished the
reading room of the library. The official opening of the library was
Sunday, June 17, 1962. The library was open a total of 61 hours a
week and was staffed by seven full time people and four part time
people. Within one year of opening the Minerva Street library began
staying open during evening hours, the hours were extended to all
day on Saturday to meet growing needs.
In December 1965
Virginia Schwartz retired and Leonard Radoff became its new head on
January 1, 1966. Radoff came to Pasadena from Abilene, Texas where
he had been a reference librarian. During his five years with the
Pasadena Public Library, he worked tirelessly to expand its
collection and its services. Len Radoff put the library before the
eyes of its patrons. Among his accomplishments were establishing a
working Friends of the Library group, who held a gigantic French
Flea Market on several streets of the downtown area to raise money
for the library. Radoff was instrumental in establishing a
reciprocal agreement among five area library systems to allow
patrons from each library to use the resources and books of any of
the cooperating libraries. Patrons from the Pasadena Library could
make use of any library in the area of Harris County. The first
federal library grants were made to Pasadena to improve its library.
In August 1970, the
David Coronado Memorial Civic Center at 1011 Joseph was opened. This
building was provided by the Junior Forum of Pasadena and was
operated by the Neighborhood Centers Association and the Pasadena
Public Library. The building located in a Latin American
neighborhood, housed a full time social worker, kindergartens, a
well baby and inoculation clinic and a library.
In November 1967, a
bond vote has held. The library’s proposition for $350,000 was to
improve the present library. Mr. Radoff said, “I feel we can add on
an extra 20,000 sq. feet to the present site. If it passes, we are
then eligible for a matching grant of $150,000 from the Texas State
Library.” The 1967 bond vote was defeated, and in May 1970 the
library was again asking the voters for approval of a $700,000 bond
for expansion. The issue was approved and preliminary plans were
made for the library. During the time Radoff was Pasadena’s
director, he was elected president of the Texas Library Association.
Mr. Radoff accepted the position of Chief of Branch Services with
the Houston Public Library System in January 1971. Barbara Alley,
Young People’s Department Head was acting director for six months,
then James Laney was assistant director for four months, but he
resigned on October 21, 1971 to accept a position in his hometown.
Roman Bohachevsky
became library director on November 29, 1971, and went to work with
experience and industry. A major inventory was taken in August 1972
to enable the library to see where it was concerning books, and to
see where areas of weakness were for needed titles. In 1973, the 21
full time and 15 part time staff began providing seven days a week
service. Mr. Bohachevsky was noted to have enthusiasm, charm,
foresight, and intelligence. These abilities were well used in the
planning with the support of the library board for the construction
of an addition to the Minerva Street Library. In 1974, construction
was completed that more than doubled the size of the Minerva Street
library from 17,000 sq. feet. to 35,000 sq. feet, increasing its
original seating space to 300. A second meeting room was added and
seminar rooms for private study. Hollis Construction Company built
the expansion and Reed and Clements, ALA designed it. The total
cost of the expansion was $850,000--$640,000 construction, $138,000
furniture and equipment, $72,000 architectural fees.
The library began providing library services
to nursing homes in 1976. Started with a federal grant for the
elderly, the extension services department began by providing
bookmobile services in 1977. Homebound services were added in 1978.
The extension services department has continued to be awarded
numerous annual grants for library services for older adults from
HALS.
The Pasadena Public Library had become a
member of HALS a new regional public library system organized by the
Texas State Library in 1977. The book theft security system was
installed in September, 1978.
In 1978, the library began automating library
operations. The automation project was coordinated by Ann Clifford,
the library’s assistant director. The first step was inventorying
the collection. A database consisting of patron and collection
records had to be built. In 1984, the library began circulating
material with the automated system. In 1992, we migrated to the CARL
Automated system. CARL’s Everybody’s Catalog on public access
terminals gave our patrons online access to our holdings. Eventually
the card catalog was phased out. With the help of a TIF grant in
1997, we upgraded our telecommunication equipment and provided
direct Internet access to our patrons. In 1999, a second TIF grant
enabled us to improve our Internet access by upgrading and
increasing the number of PACs. In late 1999, we migrated to a
web-based automated circulation system with Innovative Interfaces
Inc. WE began providing our patrons with a variety of Internet
databases available from the Texas State Electronic Library. In
2000, we received a Gates Foundation grant to establish a public
computer lab that opened in February 2001.
Adult literacy was an important goal of our
library in the 1980s. A literacy committee representing a cross
section of staff members using HALS disadvantaged services grants
provided training and support for an average of 25 volunteer tutors
each year. The program began in 1985 and was phased out in 1994.
Today we refer students and tutor volunteers to the Houston Read
Commission and maintain a basic skills collection for new adult
readers at the Fairmont branch.
In 1986, Roman Bohachevsky resigned to become
director of the Fort Bend County Library System. The City named Ann
Clifford acting director and later director of the library. In 1989,
a HALS consultant Len Radoff developed a branch building program.
The 1990s were an eventful decade for the
Pasadena Public Library. A bond issue was approved by voters on May
5, 1990 for an additional $1,500,000 for the construction of the
Fairmont Branch. Additional land was acquired for needed branch
parking. In 1991, the library successfully applied for a LSCA grant
for $86,186 for library construction. Dansby and Miller Architects
developed building plans and Morris Architects handled plans for the
interior and furnishings of the branch. The groundbreaking ceremony
was held in November 1991. The surprise guest was Marvin Zindler
complete with Channel 13 television crew. Our groundbreaking was
reported on the 6 o’clock news. Williams Development was named
general contractor. Diane Laymon was hired as the first branch
manager and began ordering the opening day collection.
1992 was an extremely busy year. In addition
to migrating to CARL, the main library’s telephone system was
replaced and the reference staff began doing DIALOG searches for
patrons. The library staff ordered the necessary materials, shelving
and furnishings for the new branch that opened on September 14,
1992.
In 1993, Earl Erickson joined the staff as
Assistant Director and Cynthia Saucier became the Fairmont Branch
Manager.
It was during the 1990s that our audiovisual
collection changed from a small browsing collection to a substantial
part of both our collection and circulation. Books on tape, videos,
compact discs and children’s read along kits proved very popular
with users. Public access to the Internet at our libraries and
opening the Fairmont Branch Library proved to be the two most
significant improvements in our library service to Pasadena
residents in the 1990s. After opening with 16,000 books in the Fall
of 1992, the Fairmont Branch had 60,000 items that circulated
130,000 times in 1999.
In the Spring of 1999, Ann Clifford retired as
library director. Dr. Parker Williams served as acting library
director during the search for her replacement. In late 1999, Earl
Erickson vacated his position as library assistant director to
become the City’s grant writer.
The library started the new millennium with a
bang. Sheila Henderson was appointed library director in the summer
of 2000. The staff and budget organization was modified and a new
Technical Services manager position created to reorganize our
technical services operation. In 2001, we opened a computer lab to
provide local residents with access to computer applications such as
word processing and with training to improve our patrons’ computer
skills. Cynthia Saucier became assistant director.
Library began a marketing initiative by hiring
Martha Hayes to coordinate our publicity efforts especially dealing
with media. Also in 2001, the Pasadena Public Library received
recognition for the library services we provide older adults. In
recognition of our community outreach services begun 25 years ago,
we received both the Texas Library Association LIBRARY PROJECT OF
THE YEAR award and the Thorndyke Publishing Award for Service to
Older Adults presented at the American Library Association’s annual
conference each year. In addition to the award winning WINDOW ON
THE WORLD program, we have provided bookmobile and homebound
services. We have maintained deposit collections and provided
programming to nursing homes, to daycare centers and to special
population facilities such as the Verne Coxe Center. Our library
system also received Texas Book Festival grants for both the main
library and the Fairmont Branch Library. The Great Gatsby Project
resulted in our library receiving a thousand-dollar prize from cable
channel A&E. The entire city was invited to participate in the
library’s celebration of the Roaring Twenties.
Our library seeks to give our
community a place to interact with others. In the aftermath of the
911 tragedy, Pasadena Public Library was the first library in the
United States to host the 911 New York-New Jersey Port Authority
traveling exhibit. Over a two-and a half day period, over 1100
visitors from as far as Conroe came to experience this amazing and
heart wrenching exhibit. Many that had family, friends and
co-workers to die in the Twin Towers disaster expressed gratitude
for the opportunity to experience first hand what others closer to
the tragedy already had seen. For some, seeing the exhibit offered
closure as they mourned the loss of loved ones and friends. As soon
as news was received concerning Tsunami Relief efforts following the
devastating Tsunami in December 2004, staff of the Pasadena Public
Library actively sought to partner with any organization prepared to
move forward. The closest effort in proximity to Pasadena was by
I-Freed, a non-profit organization comprised mostly of physicians
and other professionals of Sri Lankan descent currently residing in
the Clear Lake area. Library staff not only provided a site for the
community to drop-off donations, they also contributed generously to
the effort. It was later learned that the library was the first
donation site established in Pasadena. The library participates in
Operation Paperback, the program that allows us to send reading
materials to troops on foreign soil. In 2004, we were asked to
include the military hospital in San Antonio in our efforts. The
request received was specifically for video and cd materials for
hospitalized military personnel and for the families there in
support of their loved ones. We are in receipt of several very
heart-warming letters and emails from the troops and their families
served through this effort. The shipping costs for these projects
are borne by the Friends of the Pasadena Public Library
organization.
In 2001
the library director began a strategic planning process. Gensler
Consultants completed a library space needs assessment. In 2002, she
brought in Dr. Julie Beth
Todaro, Dean of Library Services of the Austin Community College and
consultant for the Houston Area Library System to facilitate a
library needs assessment process. Also in 2002 she submitted a PPL
System Building Renovation Proposal to the city. In September of
that year, the city passed a bond issue for 1.5 million dollars to
renovate the central library. Also in 2002 Library Director Sheila
Ross Henderson was named Library Director of the Year by the Texas
Municipal League’s Library Director Division.
Confirmation of Pasadena Public Library’s
continuing resolve to benchmark its performance and address the
changing needs of its constituency was demonstrated by its
participation in a cost-benefit study with two other Texas libraries
and six other national libraries funded in 2002-03 by the Institute
of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS) and facilitated by the
executive director of the St. Louis Public Library along with an
impressively credentialed Research Team.
According to the 2003 cost-benefit analysis by
the St. Louis Public Library team, Pasadena Public Library provided
services to 11,400 out of 47,000 households that year, nearly 25% of
the city’s population,. The study used a consumer surplus
methodology, which asks consumers to place a market value on the
services they receive at the library. This method tends to produce
lower estimates, because services that users are not willing to
replace are not included, even though those services do have some
value to the households. These households reported that the services
they received were worth more than $170 per household. Thus,
Pasadena Public Library provided services to households and families
worth more than $2 million in the 2003 study. In addition, nine
percent of those households include teachers that use Pasadena
Public Library to supplement their classroom activities and
materials, support services that have an estimated value of
$500,000. Conservatively then in 2003, Pasadena Public Library
provided $2.5 million in services to the citizens of Pasadena or
$1.20 of benefits per tax dollar spent.
With the ultimate goal of changing the library
by reorganizing staff to improve services and renovate central
library, the library began a staff development initiative. For
several years we worked on developing teamwork. In 2003 we
conducted workshop on team approach to managing change. In 2004 we
presented staff development workshop on techniques to handle
stress. In 2005 we presented a workshop on developing quality
customer service. Next we focused on developing leadership skills of
our managers. As our director Sheila Ross Henderson stated “It is
clearly not enough for a library director to be the sole person who
possesses strong leadership, administrative and capable management
skills, but others within the organization also must be aptly
prepared with complementing skill-sets. The goal of library
administration at Pasadena Public Library is to prepare a core group
of managers to cooperatively develop leadership behaviors that will
permeate throughout the organization – affecting an integrative and
productive work environment.” Library managers began receiving
leadership developmental training offered by the Management
Connection, Inc. In the summer of 2006, library began creating a
strategic plan facilitated by Teresa Gonzalez with Management
Connection, Inc.
The library
celebrated 50 years of library services all during 2003 with a
variety of activities. Several exhibits were mounted at the central
library and during the month of May the library hosted Blast from
the Past an exhibit on the history of Pasadena. Programming
included a book signing by newspaper columnist Leon Hale, an open
house celebrating the expansion of the large print collection at the
central library and a sock hop where the Rocking 50’s was the
theme. A “Down-home Cookbook” was compiled by the Senior Outreach
staff and sold to provide continuous funding for community outreach
programming efforts. Unique to this project was the story that
accompanied each recipe. The majority of recipes were those from
residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Because
resident stories accompany each recipe many family members purchased
copies as keepsakes. Others to share their recipes were First Lady
Barbara Bush, Texas Icon Liz Carpenter, Pasadena councilors and
library staff.
The library began extensive weeding of the
library collection in 2003. We hired our first young adult services
librarian who created a teen area at the central library and began
presenting programming for teens. We also created a library web
page. In 2003 we began losing staff positions which necessitated
reducing public hours. In 2004, branch closed Monday and Wednesday
nights and we reduced juvenile outreach sites. In 2005, central
library closed Wednesday nights. In 2006, we reduced our summer
reading program for children under 12 and further reduced juvenile
outreach.
In 2004, we
began renovation of central library with foundation repairs. We
also held our first annual appraisal fair. Hoping to capitalize on
the success of the PBS program The Antiques Roadshow, the
Pasadena Public Library organized an Appraisal Fair that brought
many local antiques and collectibles dealers to the library to
provide free assessments of patrons’ items. The program was a
rousing success. In addition, this was the first project that
involved the active participation of so many local businesses.
Prior to the Appraisal Fair, most business contributions involved
underwriting the summer reading program through funds and prizes.
Now all participating vendors regularly donate items to the Silent
Auction, which raises over $1000.00 each year.
In 2005, the library received
the 2005 Highsmith Award for a marketing project to promote
reading among local teenagers and publicize library services for
young adults. To celebrate Teen Read Week the library asked teens
from around the community to submit original works in three
categories: a creative horror story, a horror-themed work of art and
a review of a published horror story. We tripled the number of young
people who entered the contest this year.
The success of the project required
the participation of a wide variety of individuals and organizations
in our community. Teachers at the local school district promoted
the contest among their students and judged the winners of the
second and third place prizes. This year we broadened the local
school district’s involvement including not only the school
librarians, but also soliciting the aid of some art teachers who
helped us write the guidelines and promote the contest
The project also helped the library
broadened its support by getting corporate sponsors as well as the
Friends group involved in the program. We marketed the program to
local business to get donations for the contest prizes and to
increase the awareness of the local businesses to the importance of
the library to the overall local community. Also in 2005, we used a
Loan Star Libraries grant to improve our computers available for
public use by installing SAM a management system which handles
printing, scheduling and CIPA filtering. We moved our network of
public computers from HALAN network to the City Network.
We continued
weeding project and conducted a comprehensive inventory in the fall
of 2005. We received a grant to conduct an authority project. In
2006 Lisa Jackson became our collection development coordinator.
Kenya Johnson was promoted to a newly created assistant director for
operations position.
In 2006 our grant
activity paid off with the award of $250,000 grant from the Brown
Foundation and a $500,000 grant from the Houston Endowment for
renovation of the central library. We also received Texas Read
Grant to fund programming for babies and their parents. We received
a grant for $21,250 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to
replace 17 of our public computers.
The central library renovation process began
with the passage of a library bond issue in 2002 and has continued
through the years since with foundation repairs, meetings with
architect to plan renovation and fundraising activities. Dansby and
Miller AIA the architects who designed Fairmont Branch were chosen
to design the central library renovation. The architect Eddie
Dansby was a major contributor to the project and his death in late
2006 was the project’s loss. In 2007, we are releasing
specifications to award construction contract and begin building of
the 9,300 square feet addition. Phase two will be renovation of
some of the existing 35,000 square feet.1
