History
Origins
The Library had its start when, in 1890, the Escondido Dramatic Club began to use its profits to purchase books and make them available at a local school "for the use of the pupils and the general public". The Escondido Public Library first opened its doors in February 1891. The Escondido Public Library Association was established in 1893 and tasked with finding more a more permanent location for the public library. Thus, the Library moved to the Bank of Escondido, located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Lime (now Broadway). On the March 13, 1893 meeting of the association, the by-laws and constitution were adopted and a week later, the Library Board of Trustees were elected for a term of one year.The first library and becoming a City department
In 1894, the Escondido Land & Town Company donated two lots of land to the Escondido Public Library. The first library building was a small one-room building located on the eastern end of Grand Avenue. This library served the community until 1910. The building was moved to Grape Day Park in 1971. In April 1898, the City of Escondido took over the Library's operation, making the Library a City department.The second (Carnegie) and third libraries
Mrs. W.H. Baldridge, as secretary of the Library Board of Trustees, appealed to Carnegie Library committee for funding to build a new library. WithThe current library and the East Valley Branch
Through the efforts of the Library Board of Trustees and City officials, revenue-sharing funds were set aside for a new facility. Library operations were moved in December 1980 into the present two-story, building. In June 1996, the East Valley Branch was opened in thPioneer Room
Located in the brick Mathes Center building next to the Main Library on 247 S. Kalmia Street, thGrand Jury Report
In March 2016, the San Diego County Grand Jury issued a report after "questions ereraised concerning the adequacy of the library to server the community." The 2016/2017 Grand Jury Report found that: # The Escondido Public Library is inadequate to serve the community. # The Escondido library’s programs do not meet the community needs. # Unused allocated funds from the Escondido Library operating budget are not used to benefit the library. # An effective marketing plan is not being employed to attract more people to the library’s resources, programs, and activities. The City responded disagreeing with many of the findings.Outsourcing library services
On October 18, 2017, the Escondido City Council voted 4-1 to contract with Maryland-baseReferences
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