Doorway to history

It’s as though you step back in time when you walk into the Main

Street Library. Wooden book shelves that house literary favorites are a

reminder that much has stayed the same within the walls of the building

erected in 1951. A friendly staff, most of them volunteers, also heralds

yesteryear.

“We have tried to keep the feel of the original library,” said library

assistant Marianne Mackenzie. “It’s a nice, comfortable atmosphere for

all who enter our doors.”

The Huntington Beach library Main Street branch turns 50 this year,

and the celebration is already underway. Children’s reading programs,

puppet shows, bedtime story time and music are some of the scheduled

festivities. Tonight at 6:30 p.m., bedtime stories will be read by Miss

Penny and Miss Ruth. On Friday, Pippi Longstocking makes a special visit

for story and craft time.

The main event is Saturday’s open house, which will be from 1 to 4

p.m. The day will include the music of Don Sewell, balloon animals, face

painting, displays, story telling, cake cutting, champagne and a 4 p.m.

raffle drawing for various prizes.

Refreshments will be available throughout the day.

“We welcome the public for this special celebration,” Mackenzie said.

“We want to share with the community those things that have made this

library a special place.”

The Main Street branch was the third library in Huntington Beach. The

first was built in 1909 at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Main Street.

Then, in 1913, a Carnegie-endowed library was built at 8th Street and

Walnut Avenue and served the city until 1951. That same year, a 9,034

square-foot building was erected at 525 Main St., where Lylyan Mossinger

served as the first city librarian.

When the 117,000 square-foot Central Library opened in 1975, Main

Street became the Downtown branch, which has grown to boast a book

collection of 34,000 books.

Mackenzie worked at Central Library before she came to the Main Street

branch in 1987. She has seen a few changes at the library in her 14

years, among them computers and the way books are checked out. The

biggest change has been the increased number of children attending story

time.

“We have gone from roughly 30 children per story time sitting a week

to now three story time readings a week and up to 600 children per

month,” she said.

Mackenzie said that the number of volunteers varies, and right now

there are 10 longtime volunteers including Pierrette Dillon -- who has

been with Central and Main Street libraries for 25 years -- Wilma

Attridge, Betty Nocella, Gail Campbell, Sally Fader, Susan Johnson, Nan

Paik, Robert Heckrotte and Glenn and Jackie Canigiani.

Local merchants have donated drink and raffle items for the 50th

anniversary celebration.

“This really is a community celebration,” Mackenzie added. “Those of

us who work here know just about everybody who walks through our doors.

We know what they want to read. It’s things as such that make Main Street

Library such an endearing place.”

Ron Hayden has worked in the city’s library system for 31 years, and

spent the last 17 years as director of the Central Library. He got his

start as a page, putting away books at the Main St. branch.

“The Main Street library really does fit in well with this community,”

Hayden said. “The locals really get great use out of the facility and

baby boomers who used the library when they were youngsters are now

bringing their children in.”

One unique aspect of the Main Street branch was the use of a book

mobile, which Hayden drove to bring service to the “far corners of the

city.” The big bus delivered books to various neighborhoods and Hayden

ran circulation and check out.

The service was in existence for 10 years.

“Try double clutching as you drive that huge bus up Adams Street,”

Hayden laughed. “The oil embargo in the early 1970s caused gas prices to

skyrocket and it just became too expensive to operate the book mobile.”