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Running Head: SAN LEANDRO PUBLIC LIBRARY

San Leandro Public Library: Settling Into The West

René Stilwell

San José State University

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Abstract

The history of the San Leandro Public Library is discussed in relation to the

development of public libraries in California from the early 1800’s through the

turn of the century. San Leandro is examined dating back to its earliest

inhabitants, through the development of an early farming community, to the rise

of a flourishing industrial city. The handful of social libraries that preceded the

tax-supported public library movement is explored. The various pioneers behind

the founding of the San Leandro Public Library and the influence of philanthropy

in its development are also discussed.

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San Leandro Public Library: Settling Into The West

The concept of a free public library was cultivated in New England in the

mid 1800’s. However, societies in the West were still developing and would have

to surmount many challenges in order for libraries to take hold. The settlers had

to transport books, create and retain interest among a diverse population and

construct and finance buildings to house libraries. Following is an examination of

library development in San Leandro through tracing the history of the city, its

early reading rooms, growing pains triggered by two natural disasters and the

permanent home which resulted from philanthropy and a very dedicated librarian.

It is important trace back the origins of San Leandro to the very

beginning to understand how California was so extraordinarily isolated from the

centers of library development. Prior to the early pioneers of the mid 1800’s,

were the Spanish missionaries who arrived by ship. These initial settlers of

California were the first to bring books and were responsible for the formation of

the ranchos that would become the footprint for the establishment of the cities in

the San Francisco Bay Area. San Leandro was once home to a group of native

Indians whose lineage goes back thousands of years. These early hunters and

gatherers had tribes that extended from San Francisco to Monterey. An

abundance of wild grasses, berries, acorns, deer, elk, rabbits, squirrels, black

and grizzly bears, fish and shellfish provided food and clothing for the early

inhabitants. There was little European contact until the late 1700’s when Spain

sought to establish missions out of the need to control its expanding holdings in

the New World. The natives were called Costanoans from the Spanish term
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costeño or coast people (Shaffer, 1972). It is worthy to note that in 1971,

descendants adopted “Ohlone” to replace the unpopular Spanish term. The

Ohlone were comprised of about 40 independent village communities that hunted

and gathered in a well-defined area. They traded and intermarried with other

groups (Simons, 2008). The consensus is that the Ohlone lived a simple,

peaceful existence in harmony with nature. That is until the Spanish arrived on

coast of California with colonization plans.

The nearest mission to San Leandro is Mission San José, located to the

south and established in 1797. The purpose of these missions was to convert

the natives to Catholicism and teach them how to live as Spanish citizens. The

priests coerced most of the Ohlone to join the missions. The Ohlone were no

match for the Spanish and very few came to the missions for spiritual reasons

(Connor, Young, Khorsand, & Marshall, 1973). The missionaries set up small

religious and reference libraries in order to assist in the religious teaching. It has

been considered by many that the first printed book in California would have

most likely been a Bible. These missions were also small viable communities

that utilized books on agriculture and medicine. The majority of the books were

printed by Spanish printers and sent with the missionaries (D. Hanson, personal

communication, April 9, 2009). The Ohlone did not rely on print material, as they

were an oral culture. Much like the first settlers in puritan New England, spoken

word was considered more important then printed word. This created a problem

for missionaries, as the natives were not responsive to their books (Simons,

2008).
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Mission San José Early 1860’s

Courtesy of Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

After Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1836, the missions

were disbanded. The native people fled but found themselves unable to readjust

to their former way of life, a majority of them died from starvation or disease. A

number of the books from these early libraries were stolen, sold or destroyed.

However, some books were gathered and sent to the mission at Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is the only mission that still remains under control of the

Franciscans thereby making its book collection the most complete library in

continuous operation in California (D. Hanson, personal communication, April 9,

2009). Some of the books may have been sent to San Fernando College in

Mexico City, a seminary where the priests were initially taught. There is

information that some were preparing for the possibility of secularization. Hubert

Bancroft (1906) found, “each book was to be plainly marked as being the

property of the college, so that in the event of secularization, which was always

kept in view by the Franciscans, it might be taken away” (p. 89).

The Mission lands were gradually parceled out to private landowners. A

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few of the former mission Ohlone went to work for the rancheros. In 1837, the

first Mexican Alta California governor awarded Mission San José’s northern area

to a retired soldier named José Joaquin Estudillo (Simons, 2008). His wife Doña

Juanna came with a dowry of three hundred head of white cattle, which became

the distinguishing mark of the rancho. He gave his land the name Rancho San

Leandro (Connor et al., 1973).

Portrait of Jose Joaquin Estudillo, circa 1850

Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

The history of San Leandro can be traced back to the Estudillo family

home. The Estudillo’s had five daughters and five sons. Two of the daughters

Maria and Concepcion married men who would have the responsibility of

establishing a townsite. Mr. William Heath Davis married Maria and Mr. John B.

Ward married Concepcion. The men began construction on three buildings, the

Estudillo home, the Estudillo House that operated as a hotel and a separate

saloon. By 1855, San Leandro emerged as small town. The Estudillo House

was a popular stagecoach stop for people traveling between Oakland and San

Jose (Connor et al., 1973). In 1848, California became a territory of the United

States and gold was discovered. Many people migrated to California during this
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time to find wealth and land. Mexican land rights were honored in California but

rancheros were required to prove title in American courts. A few immigrants took

advantage of this long and costly process and moved onto Estudillo’s land. They

were known as squatters. Interestingly, some of these squatters became

prominent citizens in early San Leandro (Shaffer, 1972).

Americans from the East were not the only people attracted to California

during the gold rush. San Leandro’s good soil, mild climate and access to water

attracted many Portuguese settlers, especially from the Azores. The Portuguese

paid the high prices for land and created dairy farms, chicken ranches and

successful produce farms from hard work and concentrated agricultural

techniques. Hawaiian sugar plantations recruited many Portuguese workers who

saved money and eventually moved to California. By 1900, about two thirds of

San Leandro’s population was Portuguese (Simons, 2008). This growing

population brought a sense of family and community. It is that sense of

community that nurtured the beginning of reading rooms and social libraries

throughout the West.

Meanwhile, reading rooms and social libraries were flourishing throughout

the eastern United States. In the same year gold was discovered in California,

legislation was passed in a Massachusetts court authorizing the establishment of

the Boston Public Library. This early measure permitting tax supported public

libraries soon spread throughout New England and eventually to every state in

the union (Wedgeworth, 1993). It would take 30 years for the legislation to reach

the far western states.

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Alameda County was created in 1853 and the first county seat was held in

Alvarado (near Union City) but the condition of the roads in the winter almost

isolated the town from the balance of the county. San Leandro was voted

Alameda’s county seat in 1856. For sixteen years San Leandro was the most

important town on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay (Stuart, 1951). Many

of the county officials established homes in San Leandro, consequently further

increasing the population.

Much of what is known about the early history of San Leandro’s social

libraries can be found in newspaper articles. The Alameda County Gazette was

the first newspaper in San Leandro established in 1856. Reginald Stuart (1951)

recounted the history of San Leandro with notes from newspaper articles that

chronicled the day-to-day activities of the community. Stuart observed, “The

issue of September 6, 1856 carried a notice of the ‘Trustees of the Alameda

County Agricultural and Librarian Division.’ The officers were: B.F. Bucknell,

president; Wm. H. Tyson, vice president; J.A. Mayhew, treasurer, and Nobel

Hamilton, corresponding secretary” (p. 121). Stuart speculates that this could be

the first attempt to form a library in the county. Unfortunately, there are few

remarks about the formation of a library or reading rooms for the next several

years as it appears there were bigger concerns of the new county such as the

establishments of roads and bridges.

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Estudillo House in the 1860's

Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

As the community grew during 1860’s and 1870’s many political and social

activities were started. San Leandro incorporated as a town on March 21,1872

with the signing of a legislative bill by California Governor, Newton Booth (West,

1964). Markets were built, schools were organized, and dances and other social

activities were advertised in the local paper. One event advertised in the San

Leandro Reporter, weekly newspaper, was a dime social being held for a new

banner for the First Presbyterian Church (San Leandro Reporter [SLR], 1879).

The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1866. The minister A.F. White

laid the groundwork for San Leandro’s library development. He and other church

members started the Social and Literary Society of the Presbyterian Church in

1867 (Jones, 1966). The books for this reading room may have been part of his

private library collection. The Assessment Roll of 1872-1873 for the town of San

Leandro listed as part of his personal property a library valued at $800 (San

Leandro Public Library). The reading room did not appear to grow substantially

as church support ebbed and flowed throughout this time. However, other
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organizations such as the Reformer Club and the Good Templar’s played a great

part in the community finding ways to provide wholesome entertainment and

attempted to start their own literary groups (Shaffer, 1972).

Finally in 1872, the San Leandro Library Association was organized. The

president was A.F. White the minster of the First Presbyterian Church. The

association was formed on a membership basis of $2.50 plus 25 cents per month

and approximately 500 books were available for circulation (Barr, 2004). It is

unknown where the books came from. Perhaps, they were part of Mr. White’s

personal collection and others in the association. The information available on

this first library effort is meager. There is a notation that the Library Association

held a dance at the town hall in November of 1879 (Stuart, 1951).

One could speculate that with the excitement surrounding a newly

incorporated city, having a library association was an attractive prospect

especially with the influx of new settlers. San Leandro was still recovering from a

devastating earthquake that shook the Hayward fault in 1868. The courthouse

was destroyed, numerous buildings damaged and 30 people killed (Simons,

2008). As a result, Oakland, which had long been eyeing the prized county seat,

won the subsequent election. San Leandro, which had been the center of

political life in Alameda County for 20 years, now was seeking a new identity.

The year 1892 is noted in several documents as the first real effort to

establish a library in San Leandro. John Driver, Frank Bilger and Weston

Truesdell, owner and editor of the San Leandro Standard newspaper, organized

a Circulating Library Club. Membership dues were fixed at 50 cents per month.
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These funds were used to purchase 50 to 60 books “as were in popular demand”

and were circulated among the subscribers (SLR, 1909). Mr. Truesdell served

as the librarian for a small stipend and his office at the newspaper was the club

headquarters. After several successful months, interest slowed and dues

became difficult to collect. The collection of books was given to the librarian in

lieu of salary unpaid (Barr, 2004).

During the period of 1895 to 1897 there was a small but continued interest

in books and reading. This is noted through the pages of a short-lived

publication known as The Suburban Monthly, a Journal of Current Literature

(Stuart, 1951). According to Stuart the 17 issues were, “the composition, press

work and binding were done by the editor and publisher, 15 year-old A.H. Shirk”

(p. 168). A frequent contributor was Benjamin Franklin Mason who was not only

a novelist but also a physician and chemist. In addition, he preceded Mr.

Truesdell as the editor of the San Leandro Reporter.

Nine years after the formation of Circulating Library Club, a new

committee, “organized to provide a library” (Shaffer, 1972). In April of 1901,

planning began for a library benefit performance at St. Joseph’s Hall. The plays,

“Lost in New York” and “Kathleen Mavourneen”, netted $39.05, which was

deposited at the Bank of San Leandro into a library trust, named for Dr. B.F.

Mason, A.L. Peralta and George DeMont (Barr, 2004). As noted earlier, Dr.

Mason was a distinguished citizen of San Leandro and had continued his

passion for reading and writing by supporting this benefit. At the time, the only

library was a collection of 50 lending books located at Mr. O.J. Lynch’s drug
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store. Perhaps, some these books may have been donated from the earlier

Circulating Library Club of 1892. Mr. Lynch loaned the books out to people who

desired to read them free of charge. Learning of this in 1903, the Ebell Club of

Oakland donated a case of books from their circulating library (Barr, 2004). This

must have been greatly appreciated. It seems that new reading material was in

short supply for many years, which may have accounted for the dwindling

patronage.

San Leandro was only one of many towns in California that had a small

supply of books. The California State Library under the direction of James L.

Gillis recognized this dilemma and in 1903, extended the service of the State

Library to include the Department of Traveling Libraries. The traveling libraries

provided support to other libraries throughout the state and brought libraries to

people in rural areas who would otherwise not have access to books (California

State Library Foundation). A traveling library furnished from the California State

Library would have been sent to a community, without an established library,

upon receipt of a letter from 5 people. The traveling libraries usually consisted of

about 50 volumes of choice literature and were packed in wooden boxes that had

shelves built inside to create a self contained shipping box and bookshelf unit (D.

Hanson, personal communication, April 14, 2009). At the suggestion of Daniel

McCarthy, the state library was contacted and a traveling library was granted to

community in San Leandro (Shaffer, 1972). The traveling library was rotated with

new material every 3 or 6 months (Barr, 2004). This, without a doubt, increased

the community’s interest in a public library, as shortly thereafter a new library

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association would be poised to take hold for good.

California State Traveling Libraries

Courtesy of California State Library Foundation Exhibit

Looking back at the previous attempts to create a sustainable library in the

town of San Leandro one could reflect on why there were so many efforts yet so

many failures. It could have been the simple fact that San Leandro was still

considered a rural area, perhaps the downtown area was not close enough to the

people, or maybe the burden of losing the county seat to Oakland after the great

earthquake of 1868 was too great. One could argue that their failure was not

necessarily from lack of interest but from a lack of cultural literature embracing

the plentiful mix of ethnicity that migrated to the area. The Great Register of San

Leandro reported the following distributions of nationalities in 1896: U.S., 256;

Portugal and Azores, 117; Germany, 40; Ireland, 21; Denmark, 14; England, 10;

Scotland, 5; France, 5; Canada, 5; Sweden, 4; Switzerland, 3; Italy, 1; and

Sandwich Islands, 1 (as cited in Stuart, 1951). It would be interesting to identify

what percentages of these immigrants were able to read English. If a majority of

them could not read or were not interested in English literature one could

conclude that the material offered in the early social libraries may not have been

attractive to half of the town’s population. It is noted that there is an assumption

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that the material offered in these early libraries did not completely reflect the

community’s entire population, as there is no complete record of the type of

literature offered in these early social libraries. The idea of membership may

have been another issue for newcomers to San Leandro.

By 1900, there were just over 2,200 people living in the San Leandro area

(Held, 1973). This increase in population brought a renewed sense of

community improvement and civic pride further simulating an interest in the

traveling library. On May 3, 1905 five men, O.J. Lynch, Dr. C.H. Miller, L.D.

McArdle, L.B. Critchlow and Dr. K.B. Smith organized the San Leandro Public

Library Association. Mr. Lynch was elected President and Mr. McArdle was

Secretary, Treasurer and Librarian (SLR, 1909). The books were moved from

the drug store to Mr. McArdle’s office at the San Leandro Oyster Company where

he committed an hour a day to library work. The officers of the association asked

for permission to access the funds of $39.05 in the library trust to purchase a

larger bookcase and more current fiction books (SLR, 1909). Within a few

months, the oyster company transferred Mr. McArdle to San Francisco. The

books were again moved and sent back to Mr. Lynch’s drug store where Mr.

Anthony B. Thomas oversaw the collection (Barr, 2004).

In the fall of 1905, the San Leandro Library Association, now led by only

Mr. Lynch and Dr. Miller, petitioned the Board of City Trustees for permission to

establish the library as a public organization. According the Rogers Act of 1878,

any incorporated town could establish a library, appoint a board of trustees and

impose a tax on residence for its support. The act was revised in 1901 to require
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a city to provide a public library when petitioned by 25 percent of the voters. In

addition, it encouraged social libraries run by various clubs to be donated to the

city and allowed the representatives of these clubs to serve on the board of

trustees. This was a great benefit to women as quite often it was women who

ran these literary clubs (D. Hanson, personal communication, April 13, 2009).

Women were now eligible for service on library boards. The San Leandro Board

of City Trustees granted the petition and appointed a Board of Library Trustees.

With this came a special library tax on property that was expressed in terms of a

millage rate, that is a measurement of tenths of a cent on a dollar. The general

provision of the Rogers Act placed a tax limitation of one mill to two mills on the

dollar though the local newspaper reported that there was a five mill increase to

the City’s Tax Levy for support of the library (SLR, 1909).

January 31, 1906 was the beginning of The San Leandro Free Public

Library. The appointed Board of Library Trustees was A.B. Cary, Mrs. J.H.

Garcia, Mrs. R.D. James, Dr. Miller and A.A. Rogers. Two women were

appointed to this new board. Unfortunately, there is little information about them

or their husbands. The first order of business was to appoint an official librarian

and choose a location for the library. The board appointed Miss Mary Brown as

the official first librarian of the San Leandro Free Public Library. Miss Brown’s

starting salary was $12.50 per month (Stuart, 1951). It was agreed that the

library would be moved to the downstairs meeting room in the City Hall.

Interestingly, after the appointment of an official librarian and a new home for the

collection was secured, the popularity and average circulation doubled each
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month (Barr, 2004). Unfortunately, the library would not last at this location for

more than a few months.

A devastating earthquake struck the Bay Area in April 1906. Unlike the

earthquake that destroyed parts of San Leandro in 1868, this great quake left the

city relatively unharmed. The city of San Francisco and towns along the

peninsula were badly damaged. As a result, many refugees traveled across the

bay to towns such as San Leandro for shelter and support. City Hall was the

headquarters for the Citizens Relief Committee who provided for 300 to 400

refugees daily (SLR, 1909). Consequently, the library needed to be relocated to

provide the much needed space at City Hall. Miss Brown and the collection of

books, now at numbered at 200, moved once again. This time to a room leased

in the Gorman Building located not far from City Hall. The lease was $7.50 a

month and appears they made the most of the space as the room was described

as being outfitted with shelves and tables for the patrons. Miss Brown’s salary

was increased to $17.50 per month (Staffer, 1965). In December 1906, Miss

Brown had obtained through gifts and purchases a total of 446 books for the

library (Stuart, 1951).

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First Free Public Library in San Leandro, 1907. Note watering trough in the front of library.
Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

The small library stayed in the Gorman Building for the next couple of

years and statistics show the increased use of the library. News Notes of

California Libraries was published as a quarterly statistical abstract of the library

affairs of the state. This publication lists the annual income of the San Leandro

Free Public Library in 1908 was $620 received from taxation and the rent at the

Gorman Building was still $7.50 a month. The total number of books had risen to

1164 with 178 of those added in last three months of the year. There were 508

total cardholders and the library was open everyday except Sunday and Holidays

from 3pm to 5pm and 7pm to 8pm (California State Library, 1909).

During this period Miss Mary Brown remained the only librarian. She lived

just down the street from the library and was described as being very informed

and good at her job. She completed one course of study at University of

California at Berkeley and was a member of the California Library Association

(California State Library, 1909). Miss Brown’s desk was right by the front door,

and she would keep a close eye on everyone who came in and out of the library.
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Memories of Miss Brown recalled from Mr. Von Glahn, a lifetime resident of San

Leandro, “you could be sure that she gave you the correct information” and Mr.

Anderson, another lifetime resident, remembered, “she was soft-spoken and

moved around the library very quietly as if she was on wheels” (San Leandro

Public Library). Miss Brown was not married and she wore high-necked dresses.

She was dignified and pleasant. Though it was said children were afraid of her.

Mr. Voh Glahn recalled, “all she had to do was raise her eyebrow and that would

silence everyone immediately” (San Leandro Public Library). Miss Brown

appears to have been the quintessential librarian of the 20th century.

Portrait of Miss Mary Brown

Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

Miss Brown was noted to have worked closely with the Library Trustees in

support of the idea of building a permanent library building. She must have been

aware of how a new building could change the community for the better and with

the increase in patronage a larger space would have been inevitable. California

library historian Ray Held studied the income and services of California libraries
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between 1900 and 1917. He noticed libraries began to offer more services and

longer hours. There were more children’s rooms and book selection

improvements. Moreover, Held noted one of the most profound changes during

this period in was the advantage of having a library building. The need for

adequate space was a necessity (Held, 1973). Philanthropy was a significant

factor in library development especially in the donation of funds to provide a

permanent library building. During this time a wealthy philanthropist named

Andrew Carnegie was interested in the establishment of free public libraries to

make a means of self-education available to everyone. Carnegie was a self-

educated immigrant from Scotland. He held a variety of jobs until starting his

own business in 1865. That business was the Carnegie Steel Company, known

today as U.S. Steel and Carnegie sold it J.P. Morgan for $480 million and

devoted the rest of his life to philanthropic activities and writing. Carnegie

believed that wealthy people had the moral obligation to give away their fortunes

and with this notion he personally accelerated the development of American

libraries (Carnegie Corporation of New York). Carnegie’s public library

philanthropy was far-reaching and California was second to Indiana in the

number of communities that received funds. Carnegie contributed to the

construction of 142 library buildings in 121 communities in California and 164

buildings in 155 communities in Indiana. In total funds allocated, California

ranked fourth among the states with $2,776,987 (Bobinski, 1969). In California

the Carnegie Library period began in 1899 and the last building was not

completed until 1921.

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In the fall of 1907, considerable discussion was held in regard to an

application for a grant from Mr. Carnegie for the purpose of constructing a

permanent library building. A representative of the California State Library

Association met with the San Leandro Board of Library Trustees and discussed

how to apply for a Carnegie Grant (SLR, 1909). The Library Trustees began by

writing a letter of request to Carnegie’s secretary, James Bertram. As a

requirement of the grant, the city would have to provide adequate land for the

library building and provide maintenance for the building. The Library Trustees

pledged $1200 per year for upkeep and the citizens pledged $2000 for the

purchase of books and furniture. Mr. Talcot Cary, the father of Library Trustee

A.B. Cary, donated a 70-foot lot on Estudillo Avenue for the site (Barr, 2004). In

May 1908, with conditions of the application met, word was sent that a Carnegie

Grant in the amount of $10,000 would be awarded to San Leandro Board of

Library Trustees. San Leandro would soon have a permanent library building.

As the Library Trustees began to secure the proper bids for an architect

and builder they realized that the size of the proposed building might not meet

the needs of the city. San Leandro had recently grown in size due to an

annexation of a large territory to the north. The Trustees decided to petition Mr.

Carnegie for additional funds to provide a finished basement that would include

an auditorium and the addition of a reading area designated for men. The

customary figure for grants at time was $10,000 and sometimes requests for

additional funds were approved with little question (Bobinski, 1969). In this case,

an increase of $2000 was granted for a grand total of $12,000.

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Mr. William H. Weeks, an architect from Watsonville, was commissioned

to design the new library building. The Carnegie program never recommended a

particular architect but Mr. Weeks had developed a good reputation in California.

He designed twenty-two Carnegie library buildings throughout his career. In the

early years of the Carnegie program there was little oversight on the design of a

library building. However, Mr. Bertram reviewed every set of plans for a

Carnegie building, and he began to offer suggestions to the architects. Bertram

recommended a one-story building without full-height interior dividers. This

arrangement would give a single librarian seated at the centrally located desk an

unobstructed view and enable him or her to supervise the entire library. The

plans also allowed for large basements that could be used for meeting rooms

and offices. There was a strong emphasis to use space wisely. The

architectural style chosen for San Leandro was a Classical Revival. Twenty-four

California Carnegie Libraries were constructed in this style (Skehan, 2009).

San Leandro Carnegie Public Library

Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

Groundbreaking was observed May 25, 1908. Ernest Anderson was awarded
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the bid to erect the building and the Lentz brothers of Fruitvale won the bid for

painting. The building was made of pressed brick and reinforced concrete.

There was main reading room, a children’s room and a reference room. The

basement housed an auditorium, a men’s reading area and the librarian’s work

area (Barr, 2004).

The dedication of the new San Leandro Carnegie Library was held on May

14, 1909. Over 3,000 people attended and witnessed a parade of 600

schoolchildren led by the Forester’s Band through the city to the library. The

Hon. John P. Irish of Oakland and County Superintendent of Schools W.P. Frick

were among the speakers (Shaffer, 1972). AA. Rogers, president of the Library

Trustees presented the keys of the library to San Leandro’s Mayor, J.J. Gill (Barr,

2004). This culminating event was a wonderful way for people to celebrate the

realization of a free public library in San Leandro.

San Leandro Carnegie Library Dedication May 14, 1909

Courtesy of San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection

The library patronage was up and soon Miss Brown was given a wage
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increase to $20 a month for her increased responsibility in the new building and a

janitor was added (California State Library, 1909). Miss Brown kept very detailed

records of the library in neat handwriting. In her Annual Report of 1909 she

noted the most popular books were Anne of Green Gables, The Trail of

Lonesome Pine, Betty Wales series and Gardening in California. The system of

classification used for the library was decimal. There was a written catalog by

author and title of all the books. She noted there was free access to the open

shelves. The number of books a person was allowed to borrow at one time was

one and the duration was 7 days with a two-week renewal available. Children of

at least 9 years of age were allowed to become a cardholder (San Leandro

Public Library). The library hours also increased with the opening of the new

building and a children’s story hour was held every Saturday. The library

continued to be a gathering place not only reading and learning but also for other

civic activities. In 1913, the first local group of Boy Scouts of America was

organized and the Library Trustees donated the use of one of the large library

rooms for scout meetings (Barr, 2004).

Even with the ever-increasing responsibilities in the library, Miss Brown

continued to have an active roll in the community. She gave a distinguished

presentation to the Alta Mira Club in 1915. The topic was a brief history of San

Leandro and some have claimed it to be the first compilation of the city’s history

on record (Shaffer, 1972). The May 29th edition of the San Leandro Reporter

printed a copy of her speech and the original is available today at the San

Leandro Library. Miss Brown spoke about the early pioneers and the formation
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of the library, “on the evening of the 16th of January 1872 a meeting was held for

the purpose of organizing a Library Association. It was resolved on a motion of

Mr. D White to call it the San Leandro Library Association” (Brown, 1915).

Miss Brown served the San Leandro Public Library for 32 years. From the

first day she was appointed she showed a spirit true to providing a great public

service to the people of San Leandro. Under her direction the library collection

had grown to 10,000 books. The Library Board honored her service in April 1939

with a dedication of a new addition to the library. The addition was built from

pennies saved by Miss Brown, library fines and Work Projects Administration

funds. The new addition was called the “Mary Brown Addition”. Later that year

in September Miss Brown was forced to submit her resignation due to severe

arthritis and ill health (SLHPDC). The library continued on under the supervision

of Mary E. Tinsley and in 1959 the Carnegie library was demolished to make way

for a new state of the art library building. In 2000, the San Leandro Public Library

had yet another facelift and has expanded to a two-story building with more than

75,000 square feet serving 50,000 patrons a month. This modern library rests on

a lush historical foundation.

There have been vast changes in the land that started as a quiet Native

American village huddled between the East Bay hills and the San Francisco Bay.

San Leandro’s roots were planted from a Spanish rancho, grew into a small

farming town with a rich cultural heritage and gradually blossomed into a

residential community with industrial development. The pivotal changes in San

Leandro can be traced through the times of renewed development and sense of
 San Leandro Public 25

community. Inspired by growth and community betterment early pioneers

created small reading rooms and literary clubs. The threat of inadequate

financial support plagued the social libraries for many years. It was with the

dedication and persistence of men like A.F. White, O.J. Lynch, B.F. Mason and

C.H. Miller that San Leandro realized its dream of a sustained public library.

Miss Mary Brown continued the work of the pioneering library leaders after the

formation of the San Leandro Free Public Library. She fully embraced the job of

librarian and enabled a growing community access to information in an age when

self-improvement was still a vital means of improving one’s chances in society.

At the same time she seemed be able to satisfy the popular tastes of the

community. Miss Brown ended her presentation on the History of Early San

Leandro before the Alta Mira Club in May 1915 with this, “Many splendid projects

were launched for the betterment of the community and many more have been

achieved than were even dreamed of by these worth pioneers” (Brown, 1915).

She too was a worthy pioneer and will be remembered as a vital part of the

development of the San Leandro Public Library.

References
 San Leandro Public 26

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Bobinski, G. S. (1969). Carnegie libraries. Chicago, IL: American Library

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Brown, M. (1915). Presented to the Alta Mira Club of San Leandro, History of

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Leandro Reporter

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 San Leandro Public 28

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formative years, 1872-92. San Leandro, CA: City of San Leandro.