and “keeping in mind the size of the appropriation and the needs and interests of the people,” she would order books and arrange for help. Anne clearly had spent much time thinking about the processes involved in establishing the new library. Her experiences in Bakersfield contributed greatly to her knowledge.
Another question was about the relation of the California state library to a county librarian. Because she worked for the library in Sacramento, she knew about the need for cooperation between the local librarians and the state library. Anne wrote:
…I would ask assistance along any line where need arose which could not be met by the County Library. Should ask, not alone for books, but for information and advice, for I know how free and willingly such help is given, and I should stand ready to render to the State Library such assistance and cooperation as it may call for to render the Library system in California a unit for service to the State.
The last question concerned ideas regarding the cooperation in County Free Library work. She wrote: “I believe in the fullest cooperation with all movements and institutions which have been instigated and established for the public good.” We only learn in retrospect how pertinent this was for the time. The County Free Library system was the first state agency organized using the counties of the state as a foundation.
The background and knowledge about county library work that Anne acquired during these two years in Sacramento formed a sound foundation for her future experiences in Monterey County.
Anne Hadden (Courtesy of the Monterey County Free Libraries, Marina, CA)
Anne Hadden Files (Courtesy of California State Archives, Sacramento, CA)
Beginnings of Anne Hadden’s Job as County Librarian
At the start of her new job as county librarian of Monterey County, Anne Hadden was faced with many challenges, which she overcame with sheer determination and intelligence. She arrived in Salinas on September 1, 1913, not knowing anyone. After exploring the town on that Labor Day when all was quiet, she found a teacher whom she had known at Stanford University. The teacher helped her find a room in a boarding house.
As Anne later recalled, “Here I was, all ready to begin the great adventure of the next sixteen years as the first Monterey County librarian but so far had no place to live or no place to report.”
On her first work day, September 2, 1913, Anne’s priority was to find a place to work. Her first “office” was in a garden, because construction was necessary in the building that had been chosen for the headquarters of the library. She would remember that “the September days were bright and sunny and the …garden was a pleasant place to work.” Here in this “office,” she received people who were anxious for service.
The citizens of Monterey County were aware of the pending county library and anxious for the opportunities that it would offer. Starting with the publicity surrounding the passage of the Board of Supervisors Resolution in the summer of 1912, articles appeared in local newspapers. That year Harriet Eddy, the state representative for the establishing the county libraries, traveled throughout Monterey County spreading the word about the library to local residents. She received a very favorable response. A year later, Anne was appointed.
After Anne had arrived in town for her new job, an article in the Salinas Daily Index on September 8, 1913, under the title “Getting County Library in Shape,” stated:
…When this work is done the county library will be opened for business and the several districts of the county will be invited to share in the benefits accruing from its establishment. …The County Free Library promises to be the most popular institution in the county, and the Index bespeaks for the librarian the hearty co-operation of the people.
Shortly thereafter, headquarters were set up for Anne’s library in the new Salinas Carnegie Library. The town had received grant funds from the Carnegie Corporation in 1907, and the library opened in 1909. Andrew Carnegie was influential in expanding library service to small town America in the early 1900s. It is important to learn about the background of the Carnegie library movement, and the effect it had on residents of California. This historic change of attitude towards library service benefited all residents of the state, particularly those living in rural areas such as Monterey County.
ANNE HADDEN in her own words:
BEGINNINGS OF THE MONTEREY COUNTY FREE LIBRARY
On September 2, 1913 the Monterey County Free Library began to function. There were no books, no equipment, and no place to work. The first task was to find headquarters. On Sept. 5, 1913 the Trustees of the Salinas Public Library granted the use of a small unused room in the back part of the Public Library building. This had to be equipped with shelving, furniture ordered, an outside door cut, a flight of steps built, and a sidewalk laid around the building. Furniture and equipment had arrived by October 7, but it was not until October 28, 1913 that the room was ready and the County Library moved in.
Meanwhile the County Librarian had a temporary desk under a tree in the garden at Mrs. Walter Norris’ house, which at that time faced on Gabilan Street. It was leased by Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lazier, who rented a few rooms to professional and business people. Much of the early task of planning forms and blanks, ordering furniture and equipment, and working on book selection was done in the garden or in the Librarians’ corner room upstairs. Visitors from the County were usually received in the hall. The first visitor was Mrs. Ida M. Clark of Greenfield (with a request for a branch to be opened).
I was in Salinas only a day or two when the reference work began and the State Library immediately proved itself to the satisfaction of the people of Salinas. We were able to secure material from Sacramento for one of the high school teachers which she did not expect to find west of Chicago.
The County Library met with so many delays and trivial difficulties at its start that although annoying it grew to be quite comical.
There was a delay in getting settled. The Library Board had to be consulted individually and collectively. Their permission secured, plans had to be drawn up and submitted. The mill man who was to make the necessary changes was taken ill in the midst of things, then his foreman cut his hand. Finally after seven weeks we moved into our new quarters.
It was difficult getting forms. We took the forms to the printers. The proofs were to be ready on a certain day. When that day came we were assured they would without fail be ready on the following Wednesday. On Wednesday, we learned that the stock had not yet been received from the City, but by Monday surely the proofs would be ready. On Monday the printer shamefacedly confessed that they had lost the samples and wanted new forms drawn up. That meant another hour or two of unnecessary work.
