A history of libraries in Roseville

It was a neighborhood of bawdy, brawly bars – and quiet reading rooms.So it's no surprise Roseville's first proto-library soon moved in 1906 from its home on Pacific Street to a resident's considerably more demure house. And since then, the city's libraries haven't stopped keeping up with the times.Today's three full-service city libraries owe their existence, unsurprisingly, to the railroad, according to a history by Lenore Batiste, a member of the Friends of the Roseville Library fundraising group.As the population boomed following the Southern Pacific's move from Rocklin to Roseville, residents identified a need for library services. A group of library boosters formed a committee in 1911, and approached the foundation of industrialist Andrew Carnegie – in the midst of a library-building spree that saw more than 1,700 libraries built with Carnegie funds in the century's first two decades – for a $10,000 grant.The result was Roseville's Carnegie Library on Lincoln Street, which served the book needs of citizens from 1912 to 1979. It's now the home of the Roseville Historical Society's museum.Batiste, a longtime Roseville resident and former teacher in the Roseville City School district, remembers its library days well."It was really pretty cramped and crowded in there," Batiste said, adding that the children's section was located in the basement. "The librarian's office was probably eight feet by eight feet."But it had a certain stately charm, she added. "It's still my idea of a library, with the whole old time feeling and the wooden floors," she said.Still, as the city grew it became clear a new facility was needed. The Friends of the Roseville Public Library, in existence since 1973, worked to push three bond issues – all unsuccessful – to pay for a new library. Finally, a revenue sharing agreement was brokered among the city, state legislature and local school district, and groundbreaking for a new facility on Taylor Street was held in late 1978.The facility opened about a year later. Modern for its time, it honored the city's past, with a central rotunda intended to honor the railroad roundhouse that put Roseville on the map.It would be another 11 years before the next library was built as part of Maidu Regional Park, which served the population located east of Interstate 80.But library needs on the west part of town continued to be underserved. It wasn't until 2008 that the long-promised west Roseville library opened. Officials named it after Martha Riley, another Friends member who had worked to keep the library on the front burner of officials' agenda.Today, Roseville's three libraries boast nearly 190,000 items, said Jamie Finley, library marketing and programming technician. That's about 46 times the number the Carnegie held in 1922.But beyond buildings and books, Roseville's libraries have also evolved in terms of the programs they offer.Where once book lending and quiet study and reading space ruled the day, today Roseville's libraries are borrowing a page from successful book retailers like Borders and Barnes & Noble – emphasizing social gathering space. Internet terminals, DVD rentals and an electronic "game cage" are among the most popular activities at the Martha Riley Community Library, which also includes more extensive seating."Especially in the last 10 to 15 years, we've seen a huge shift from reference-based questions being at the forefront of library services, to more of our specialized programs," Finley said. Free wireless is also a recent addition, highlighting the continued emphasis on technology."We have online book clubs, online databases and references. The card catalog is now not a card catalog anymore, it's an online information portal that's searchable from home."And talking? Go ahead. You won't get shushed.Downtown Library225 Taylor St.Maidu Library1530 Maidu DriveMartha Riley Community Library1501 Pleasant Grove Blvd.The Carnegie Museum, left, at 557 Lincoln St., was Roseville's first library, serving the citizens' book needs from 1912 to 1979.