This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Hill Avenue Branch Library located at 55 S. Hill Avenue. The library was designed by noted Pasadena firm Marston, Van Pelt and Maybury and opened on May 6, 1925. Did you know that it is the oldest library building in Pasadena? It opened in the year that construction of the Central Library began!
The current library may have opened its doors in 1925, but the Hill Avenue Branch’s history goes further back to 1910 when the library board established the East Branch after residents petitioned for a library to be opened in their part of the city. It was first located on the second floor of the Giddings Building, owned by the Giddings family, on Colorado Boulevard and Holliston Avenue. It started out with a collection of 700 books, but by the end of the decade the collection had grown to over 7,000 books and periodicals. In 1919, the branch moved to larger quarters in a vacant feed and fuel building.
During its first ten years, the East Pasadena Branch, as it was also known, maintained a busy schedule working with the Jefferson and Grant elementary schools nearby and depositing books at six fire stations on a quarterly basis.
In 1922, a rainstorm caused heavy damage to the building it was using, and when repairs proved too costly, it was decided that a new library should be built instead. The bonds for a new building failed to pass in 1923 but passed in 1924 after a vigorous campaign to build a permanent branch in East Pasadena. Construction started soon after on a plot of land near the intersection of Hill Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
When the new library was completed, it was dedicated as the Hill Avenue Branch. The building is a combination of beauty and practicality, with the adult and children’s reading rooms opening into the enclosed garden where young and old readers alike can enjoy a good book outside. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, the building’s historical architecture has been maintained throughout the years and is listed as a Cultural Heritage Landmark by the City of Pasadena.
Today after 100 years in East Pasadena, the Hill Avenue Branch continues to be engaged with the community it serves. Its location at a busy intersection near Pasadena City College, Caltech, Saint Philip the Apostle School, and a thriving neighborhood makes it one of the most visited libraries in Pasadena. Stop by and check out this century-old library!