First Glendale Library

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Browse TopicArchitectureCommunity GroupsGovernment and PoliticsSociety and CultureSubjectLibraries--Glendale (Ariz.) LibrariansDescriptionIn 1895, Vic Messenger, a member of the first class of Stanford University, came to Glendale to manage Ryder Lumber and Hardware Company. With him, he carried 400 books, all of which he donated as the first library collection available to the public. Two years later, he built a library building at the north end of the Ryder facility, and other members of the community began to donate their books, also. In 1898, the Glendale Public Library Association was formed. People paid $5 a share (a large sum in those days!) for borrowing privileges. That same year, Ryder moved to what is now 58th Drive and Glendale. The books were moved also, this time to the second floor of the store. Vic Messenger became the "official" volunteer librarian. Around 1900, the Odd Fellows took over the Ryder building, and the library moved from the hardware store to the brick schoolhouse. The Woman's Club kept it open on Saturday afternoons until the schoolhouse was torn down in 1915, and for several years, the library was without a home. Eventually, the Woman's Club moved the library to a tiny white frame building built around "the world's biggest flagpole" in the middle of Murphy Park. In 1922, the library became a department of the City of Glendale with budget of $500.Date Original1895~Date Range1890s (1890-1899)TypeStill ImageOriginal FormatBlack-and-white photographsContributing InstitutionGlendale Public LibraryCollectionGlendale Public Library HistoryRights StatementProperty of Glendale Public Library. For reproduction contact the Glendale Public library. (623) 930-3530

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City or TownGlendaleCountyMaricopa CountyStateArizonaCountryUnited States

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IdentifierFirst Glendale Public Library.jpgDate Digitized2008Digital FormatJPEG

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First Glendale Library

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