Library Services May Return to Downtown

(The Welwood Murray Memorial Library in downtown Palm Springs may once again become part of the Palms Springs Public Library.)

It has been rumored, and now reported in The Desert Sun (Library Annexes Welwood: September 15, 2008) that the small library downtown that used to be the main library will once again be run by the Palm Springs Public Library as a downtown branch.

When I first visited Palm Springs, I, along with most other tourists, thought that this was the library for Palm Springs. I mean it says "Welwood Murray Memorial Library" right above the front door, as well as on a historical plaque on the front of the building that says, "...With the completion of the Library Center at Sunrise Plaza in October 1975, the Welwood Murray Memorial Library became the downtown branch." So it was some time before I found out that the building was actually a privately-run library and no longer affiliated with the main library.

The building has not been without controversy. In 1938 George Welwood Murray donated this land to provide for a library as a memorial to his father, Welwood Murray, pioneer hotel operator. Cornelia White donated an additional strip of property on the eastern end of the site. The existing structure, designed by John Porter Clark and constructed by Charles Chamberlin, opened as the first permanent home of the Palm Springs Public Library in February 1941.

In the 1980s a developer tried to purchase the building, along with adjacent property, but several local residents banded together to save the building, and due to its original deed, won in court. However by then it seems the city didn't want maintain two libraries and it was closed as a city-run facility in 1992, and taken over by a group of volunteers who have run it ever since. And now that the lease has expired it seems that the city is interested in once again running it as branch library.

I don't know if this is because more and more people who come to Palm Springs as tourists, and then end up buying a second home or moving here, come upon this library first and assume it is the library, or at least part of it, and then are confused that it isn't or that it is open so few hours. I also know that the library is undergoing a strategic plan for its next five years and opening this building again could be part of its outreach goals, however since the report has not been completed, I don't know.

What I do know is that it is a charming building, however from what it looks like on the outside, especially in the back, it will need work. (Due to its limited hours, I've never actually been inside, only peered through its windows.) It will be interesting to see how it will be used. Library services are different from what they used to be, but it certainly could be a wonderful public relations and outreach opportunity for the library, as well as the city, to showcase its services, provide internet access downtown, and serve as the library's historical repository.

Library services really should depend on what users want and need. In many cases when I worked in Massachusetts, revitalized libraries downtown often helped in bringing people back to what had been depressed areas. One can only hope that this will work for Palm Springs too.