Friends,
As a boy growing up in Gilroy, I remember the historic library building that now serves as home of the Gilroy Museum, on the corner of Fifth and Church streets.
That facility was built in the early 1900s with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie funded 2,509 libraries between 1883 and 1929 in the United States. When the library was built, Gilroy had a population of about 2,500 people.
The Carnegie Library served Gilroy well for seven decades. However Gilroy, like all communities in the Bay Area, grew significantly in size. In 1975, with a population of about 15,000, Gilroy opened a new 12,500 square foot building at Sixth and Rosanna streets. By 1995, with Gilroy growing even more rapidly, it became apparent that a larger facility would be needed. Studies indicated that renovation and expansion of the existing building was not practical or cost effective.
In pursuit of learning and the provision of a vital community resource, the city embarked on three unsuccessful bids for competitive state library construction funds.
Not to be dissuaded, the city council considered other financing options and placed a measure on the ballot asking residents if they desired to fund a new library. From there a citizen’s group began a campaign for passage of the measure.
The campaign was successful and the measure passed by a 69 percent margin.
As a community we now dedicate a beautiful facility for our use today and for generations to come. The foresight that the community demonstrated in passing this measure, especially during tough economic times, is truly amazing and speaks volumes about the values that this community holds dear.
I encourage you to visit this wonderful new asset to our community. Doing so will enrich you, and add life and energy to this state-of-the-art facility, which you, have made possible. I am confident that it will be a valued resource for many, many decades to come.
I am so proud of this community, its commitment to life-long learning and our young people that is demonstrated in the support for this amazing and lasting new library.
