Expansion of CSL
“The time has come when California might well consider following the example of several other states in the matter of providing a building for the State Library.” – State Librarian James Gillis, 1910
As government expanded, the California State Capitol, including the State Library, became more crowded. The call for the Library’s expansion came in the first decade of the 20th century to construct a separate library building as part of the “Greater Capitol Extension.”
However, construction was delayed for over two decades. Begun in 1924, the 200,000(?) square foot, Beaux Arts style structure, as well as its sister State Building No. 1, was dedicated in 1928. Known today as the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, it went through an extensive, two year restoration project, ending in 2013.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the heirs of Adolf Sutro, former mayor of that city, donated his collection of 91,000 volumes to the State Library in 1913. That collection is the heart of the J. Paul Leonard-Sutro Library, now housed on the campus of San Francisco State University.
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Work on the façade of the Library and Courts Building nears completion, c. 1925.
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Gillis Hall, the main reading room in the recently completed Library and Courts Building, c. 1928.
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Evidence of water damage at the Sutro Library in San Francisco, 1956.
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Napa County Library “Bookmobile” in front of the Library and Courts Building, c.1940.
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Start of construction on the Library and Courts Building, c.1924.
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Sculptor Edward Field Sanford, Jr. examining his work on the pediment of the Library and Courts Building, late 1920s.
California State Capitol Museum – Out of the Vault
This is a website specifically for the “Out of the Vault: Treasures from Your California State Library” Exhibit which runs May 30, 2016 – April 23, 2017 at the California State Capitol Museum.
For Museum-related information such as contacts, hours and location: Visit capitolmuseum.ca.gov.