In the 1960s, the Tavares Development Company assured buyers that the new San Carlos area would quickly become a complete neighborhood with retailers, eateries, churches, firehouses, parks, a recreation center, schools, and a library.

By 1970, this mission had been accomplished except for the library.

San Carlos resident and parent, Toni Noel, was instrumental in bringing attention to the library project. When Noel showed up at a San Carlos Community Council Meeting and demanded to know what was being done to get the promised library built in San Carlos, she was appointed Library Chairman.

Noel learned from City Librarian, Clara Breed, that unless pressure was brought on the San Diego City Council to purchase property and build a library in San Carlos, then San Carlos residents would have to continue driving to other communities for library services. Breed told Noel how to get the Council’s attention and Noel applied to have her name placed on the next City Council meeting docket. Council members listened attentively to Noel, admitted they were sorely uninformed about the community’s needs, and asked someone to investigate the matter and bring it to the attention of the City Planning Commission.

When the subject was scheduled to be on the City Planning Commission’s docket, a large group of San Carlos residents attended the meeting. Several members of the group spoke before Noel made an impassioned plea for the City Council to select a site for the proposed library before the best sites were all snapped up for service stations.

The interest of the residents turned Councilmember heads and one week later, City Librarian, Clara Breed, and Noel were driving around the neighborhood looking for likely sites. Breed preferred the location to be near public transportation and a shopping center, so the City purchased the present site of the library on Jackson Drive.

The San Carlos Branch Library opened its doors to the community on Jan. 9, 1974.

Speakers at the opening ceremony included then current 7th District Councilman Jim Ellis, past Councilman Allen Hitch, San Carlos resident and Librarian Marco Thorne, and Library Director, Bill Sannwald.

In 1974, the new 8,000 sq. ft. San Carlos Branch was the largest branch library in the City and the 40-person Community Room was the first of its kind within the San Diego Public Library system. The branch opened displaying 20,000 volumes of its 32,000-volume capacity and future Friends of the Library Book Sales supplied the funds to fill the shelves. The total cost was $384,000, paid for by the Community Buildings and Improvement Bond Fund of 1966, and the City’s Capital Outlay Fund. Cost of the land was $88,000, design and construction cost $288,000, and furnishings cost $16,000. It took only four years to find and purchase the land, finance, design, build, and open the first San Carlos Branch Library. Thank you to all those community members who helped fulfill the promise made.

Please join us for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the San Carlos Branch Library on Saturday, Jan. 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. We will be hosting family friendly activities for kids including craft-making, a scavenger hunt, and pictures with ODI the Coyote as well as featuring District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo. Light refreshments will be served.

Author Talk and Speaker Series return in January 2024

On Friday, Jan. 19, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Write Out Loud will present Ripples of Walden Pond.

This 55-minute, one-person play written by Richard Platt explores the life of Henry David Thoreau, the influence of his mother who hid slaves, his experience as a high school teacher, building and living in his Walden Pond cabin, his friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his reflections on civil disobedience, a citizen’s obligations to his government, society, and himself.

Local Author, Jennifer Coburn, will discuss her historical fiction novel, Cradles of the Reich, on Friday, Jan. 26, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The novel takes readers inside the bucolic Heim Hochland, one of the real Third Reich breeding homes. The lives of three women become intertwined as they realize they are trapped within Hitler’s terrifying scheme to build a Nazi Aryan nation. Come learn about this little-known piece of World War II history.

The San Carlos Friends of the Library Used Book Sales are on the first Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Come buy books and support the Friends of the Library. Ask for a membership envelope from the book sale cashiers to join or donate to the San Carlos Friends of the Library. We are in need of your gently used book donations which are accepted any time during library open hours.

Editor’s note: This article was provided by David Ege, branch manager at San Carlos Branch Library.