A Look at Escondido Public Library Through Time:
Serving Escondido for more than a hundred years

The library has been serving Escondido since 1894 when it was a private library located in the small building which now sits in Grape Day Park. In 1898, the City of Escondido took over this library's operation, making the library a City-funded department. With Andrew Carnegie funds and a gift of land, a new library was built in 1910 on Kalmia and Third Avenue. In 1956, because of limited space to serve a community of over 6,000, a new library building, now the Mathes Center, was constructed on the same spot. By 1980, Escondido had grown to 67,000 persons and the library incorporated children's and audiovisual services.

Through the efforts of its 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, 40,000 square foot building. In June 1996, the 13,000 square foot East Valley Branch was opened in the East Valley Community Center on East Valley Parkway. In December of the same year, the Pioneer Room was opened in the Mathes Center adjacent to the main library, with bequest from local historian Frances Beven Ryan (1901-1990). And in 2000 the Computer Center was incorporated into the Pioneer Room's space.