Menlo Park Library

Menlo Park Library has operated in a school, a hotel, City Hall, a restaurant, and a bungalow until settling down in the Civic Center. In 1916, the San Mateo County Library opened a branch library in the Central School on El Camino Real in Menlo Park. It contained 50 books and was presided over by Hanna Burke, a teacher at the school. In 1926, the library moved to the Kuck Hotel at Derry Lane and Oak Grove. Four years later, it moved again to City Hall on Doyle Street. For 9 years, 1062 borrowers used this facility until the next move to what is now the British Banker's Club. Being situated on the mezzanine required borrowers to climb 21 steps, but rent was only $5 a month. This arrangement lasted until 1948, when the library moved to a bungalow on Menlo Avenue. Not until 1957 was a building designed specifically as a library. Kingsford Jones, a Menlo Park architect, designed the one-story ranch style building with 2 patios and a brick and redwood exterior, giving it a rustic and informal atmosphere.