Learn the History of the San Bernardino City Library System
Local historian and San Bernardino Sun newspaper columnist Nicholas Cataldo will be on hand to present “Reading Between the Lines: The History of San Bernardino Libraries” at the annual meeting of the San Bernardino City Library Foundation Board on June 14th. The meeting is open to the public.
“We’re delighted to have Nicholas Cataldo present a history of San Bernardino libraries,” says Foundation Board President Arlington Rodgers.
(San Bernardino, Calif.) Local historian and San Bernardino Sun newspaper columnist Nicholas Cataldo will be on hand to present “Reading Between the Lines: The History of San Bernardino Libraries” at the annual meeting of the San Bernardino City Library Foundation Board on June 14th. The meeting is open to the public.
Cataldo is a retired San Bernardino teacher who writes a monthly column about local history, covering people, places and events that are eye-opening and entertaining. He volunteered for 10 years in the California Room at the downtown Feldheym Library and was always ready to share interesting anecdotes about the greater San Bernardino area’s history.
San Bernardino City Foundation Board President Arlington Rodgers
“We’re delighted to have Nicholas Cataldo present a history of San Bernardino libraries,” says Foundation Board President Arlington Rodgers. “It’s always a pleasure to read his column and it’s going to be especially good to hear him provide details about San Bernardino’s first library and all its branches.”
Cataldo will cover Andrew Carnegie’s (1835–1919) worldwide library founding movement that ran from 1883 to 1929 and resulted in 2,509 libraries opening to the public, one of which was here in San Bernardino. In the summer of 1904, San Bernardino’s first public library opened, thanks to a $20,000 gift from the Carnegie Foundation two years earlier. That original gift would amount to over $672,000 in 2022 dollars, according to the CPI Inflation Calculator.
Cataldo’s presentation will also include historical coverage of the people whose names grace all four of the library branches.
The meeting starts at 5:30 PM in the Mary Belle Kellogg Room of the Norman F. Feldheym Library at 555 West 6th Street, San Bernardino. A light meal will be served, and seating is limited. For more information, call (909) 381-8211.
About the San Bernardino City Library Foundation
The mission of the San Bernardino City Library Foundation is to make sure that our public libraries continue to be places where everyone in the community can gather, learn, grow, and interact.
Since 1995, the San Bernardino City Library Foundation has provided the San Bernardino Public Library system with the financial support it needs to provide new books for patrons, offer free tutoring for all academic levels, provide patrons with access to e-books and audio books, and provide innovative programs like a Makerspace and the American Girl Doll program.
Board members include Arlington C. Rodgers, Jr. President, Cheryl R. Brown, Vice President— Community Relations, Mary Kay DeCrescenzo, Vice President-Operations, Debra A. Fields, Secretary, Timothy Prince, Director.