Donald Wright Auditorium - Pasadena Main Library

The Pasadena Central Library opened its doors at its current location in 1927. The Mediterranean-style building was designed by the firm of Myron Hunt and H.C. Chambers, the architects of the Huntington Library and Occidental College. The building was expanded in the mid-1960s to include a children's story room and two reference wings. In the mid-1980s, a new entrance on the north was constructed as well as two additional floors for circulating books, funded by local, state and federal money. Historically sensitive interior restoration was undertaken in the late 1980s. This was funded with $3.4 million in private contributions raised by the Pasadena Public Library Foundation. The Central Library emerged with the newly renovated and restored Donald R. Wright Auditorium, a climate-controlled special collections Pasadena Centennial Room, the Ria C. Lee Humanities Wing, the Community Bank Business Room, the Ida Lloyd Crotty Genealogy Room, and the Ernestine C. Avery Children's Wing, complete with a fully functional and expanded storyroom. The interior restoration and renovation included authentic replicas of the original bronze and copper pendant light fixtures, specially designed wool carpeting, restored skylights and woodwork, increased seating, and a new area for periodicals, microforms, and government documents.