Story of the Cupertino Library
The New Cupertino Library in its present building and location at 10400 Torre Avenue opened on April 10, 1971.
It was a cooperative project between Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the City Council of Cupertino.
A lending library in Cupertino started with donations of the book collections of Elizabeth Lowe Watson and Mary Tinkham Dixon.
Mrs Watson was a nationally prominent womens suffrage and Christian Temperence Union leader.
She was heavily involved in the spiritualist movement and was divorced from the oil tycoon Jonathan Watson.
She ran her library known as the “Sunny Brae Free Library” out of her home before 1900.
Mrs Dixon formed the West Side Book Club which charged a small membership fee and was originally located in her home as well.
Soon it was moved to the Cupertino Store at the Crossroads and the name was changed to the Cupertino Book Club.
It then became the Cupertino Free Library under the Santa Clara County free library system.
Fanny Jollyman, a clerk at the store became the first paid librarian at $5.00 a week.
She brought in more shelves as well as chairs and tables where people could relax and read.
She continued to fulfill duties at the store and was the official Cupertino librarian starting in 1914 and retiring in 1945.
The store was remodeled in 1946 leaving no room for the library.
Cupertino was without a book lending program until the county book mobile started stopping there in 1951.
It was soon obvious that the bookmobile could only be a temporary solution.
Still it took almost a decade for Cupertino to get a proper library in a building.
By June of 1960 a property tax referendum provided the funds to rent a location.
By December two units totaling 2500 sq ft in the Allario Shopping Center at 10255 De Anza Blvd were rented at $500.00 a month.
The interior was modified enough to house a starting collection of 17,000 books with expansion room planned.
The Grand Opening ceremony was held Sunday December 11, 1960 at 2:00pm.
The ceremony was not overly fancy – the ribbon was held up while librarian Janice Erickson cut it as it would not stay put with scotch tape.
No plans had been made to assign cards or check out any books.
But the staff had underestimated the enthusiasm of the community for what they had wished a decade for – a REAL LIBRARY!
Over 300 people waited and received library cards that day.
The staff had worked very hard and many organizations had donated items that a library needed beyond bookshelves.
There were display cases, desks, flag poles, an illuminated globe, paper cutter, office supplies and much more.
By February there were over 4000 new memberships and 16,000 additional books in the collection.
By January 1963 there were over 50,000 books in the collection and the stacks had grown to 8 shelves high.
The aisles became narrower.
Head librarian Robert Herrick was ingenious at making room in myriad ways but soon evenings became so crowded that the building was “standing room only”.
By the mid-60s the circulation was over 300,000 and older and less used books were sent back to the Central County library.
Student use increased as well as patrons from outside Cupertino.
In December 1966 there was a staff of 18 and it had become the 2nd largest branch in the county system circulating approximately 32,000 books a month.
The 2500 sq ft building was at capacity with a collection of 56,000 books and only 35 places to sit.
It was determined that 40% of the patrons were San Jose residents.
In 1966 San Jose finally got two more libraries – Saratoga Quito and Calabasas.
Federal funding of libraries for De Anza College and the local High Schools helped fill a great need for students.
Extensive weeding of the collection again became necessary.
San Jose was not paying anything into the library system so a $10.00 non-resident fee was added on much to many people’s displeasure.
The San Jose patrons visited the Cupertino library feeling it was superior.
In May 1967 the first of a large collection of vinyl records arrived.
Soon over 3000 discs made up the collection.
This as well as a vast magazine collection made San Jose residents agree to pay the non-resident fee.
As oner patron put it “The best things in life aren’t necessarily free”.
It was starting to become apparent that an entirely new library was needed.
The election of 1967 had a bond initiative on the ballot with the aim of building one.
It passed in a landslide with 85.6% voting YES on the new library.
A large federal grant for $459,000 had also come in so there was now funding available to expand into a large new building in the town center near city hall.
The new library located at 10400 Torre Avenue had its grand opening and dedication on April 10 1971.
It was two stories plus a mezzanine and on the opening date had a collection of almost 96,000 items with 116,000 more to be moved in before June 30th.
By 1992 Cupertino Library had more than 200,000 volumes in its collection and more than 1 million items were circulated.
A new design was needed again.
In 2004 the completely redesigned and rebuilt, 54,000-square-foot library facility opened in Cupertino.
A defining feature of the new facility was a sixteen-foot-long 3,240-gallon saltwater aquarium, donated by Fred and Annie Chan in memory of Fred's father, Mr. Pak Chung Chan.
By 2010 with the assistance of the Cupertino Library Foundation, the Friends of the Cupertino Library, the City of Cupertino, and the Cupertino Rotary Club, the library opened a new Teen Room on the second floor.
The Cupertino Library has more than 330,000 volumes in its collection, circulates more than 2.5 million items annually, and receives 850,000 visitors each year.
In 2020 building expansion was once again planned.
The following year the Torre meeting room was opened on the first floor.
Two flexible community meeting rooms were added the following year on the first and second floor to create the world class library so many residents and friends enjoy today.
Researched and written by Alecia Thomas, CHSM Collection Manager, December 2024