All LA County Library locations will be closed on Friday, June 19 in honor of Juneteenth. As always, our Digital Library is open 24/7.
The Book Club meets the third Wednesday of every month. Copies of the current title are available at the Information Desk. New members are always welcome! For adults.
For the month of April, we are reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.
The miseries of the Depression and Dust Bowl years shape the destiny of a Texas family. We meet Elsa Wolcott in Dalhart, Texas, in 1921 and wind up with her in California in 1936 in a saga of almost unrelieved woe. Despised by her shallow parents and sisters for being sickly and unattractive, Elsa escapes their cruelty when a single night of abandon leads to pregnancy and forced marriage to the son of Italian immigrant farmers. Elsa's search for a better life for her children takes them out west to California, where things turn out to be even worse. Elsa displays an iron core of character and courage as she faces dust storms, floods, hunger riots, homelessness, poverty, the misery of migrant labor, bigotry, union busting, violent goons, and more. For adults.
Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party, including kids. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.
This event is held in-person. LA County Public Health strongly encourages masks and physical distancing indoors regardless of vaccination status. Masks will continue to be available for customers upon request. Please see the Guidelines for Attendees during the registration process for more information.
San Fernando Library opened in November 1914 as a branch of the Los Angeles County Free Library. This library, the first public library in the mainly agricultural San Fernando Valley, found its home in the Industrial Arts building of the San Fernando Union High School located at 130 North Brand Blvd. In the first year, 1,849 books were circulated to 156 borrowers.
From 1925 to 1946, the library weathered the Depression and war years in three store-front locations all on North Maclay Street. Then from 1946 to 1953, the library was located at 11223 First Street.
In 1953, the library joined with city services when it became part of the civic center at 102 Macneil Street. Growth continued for the city and the library with the collection reaching a total of 27,572 volumes in 1964 for the library's 50th anniversary.
The 1970's saw the development of a strong Spanish-language collection and the creation of the community support group---the Friends of the San Fernando Library. In 1988, the library moved into a 6,000 square-foot facility located at 150 N. Library Street.
On June 20, 2001, the library moved to 217 North Maclay Ave, a brand new 8,601 square-foot leased facility. The library is the center piece of the newly constructed Library Plaza Mall. The project was a private/public partnership.
