Take Part in the Kick Off Event for Glendale's History Drive at the Glendale Central Library, March 14th!

(click here for more information on this photo)

Be a part of Glendale’s history at the Kick Off of the Glendale History Drive. Help us add chapters to Glendale’s past by sharing or donating your photos and documents.

The Glendale Public Library is interested in collecting and/or scanning items to add to its collection of:

• photos and documents relating to Glendale’s cultural and civic events,
• images of landmark family celebrations in Glendale, and
• photos and documents pertaining to buildings, houses and places of interest in Glendale.

Selected items will be scanned at the Kick Off event or at a later date. Walk ins are welcome, but appointments are encouraged.

The Glendale History Drive will continue by appointment through the end of June.

The Glendale History Drive is in partnership with The Glendale Historical Society and the Historical Society of Crescenta Valley. For more information or to make an appointment call (818) 548-3752, go to the Glendale History Drive website, or download a copy of the History Drive flyer.

Participants will receive a 2009 Historic Glendale calendar courtesy of Glendale Printing Center.

Glendale History: Verdugo Swim Stadium

(click on the photograph to view a larger version in a new window)

With the official start of summer just days away (and the summer heat already here), thoughts turn to finding outdoor activities and ways to keep cool.

From the 1938 until the mid-1980s, the Verdugo Swim Stadium provided both for residents throughout Glendale. This picture, taken by a Glendale News Press photographer, suggests that the pool was quite a hit with the kids and teens of Glendale in the 1940s.

The Verdugo Swim Stadium, which was located next to the Civic Auditorium on Verdugo Road, was finally demolished in 1988. This photograph is one of the thousands available to library patrons and researchers at the Special Collections Room in the Glendale Central Library.

The Special Collections Room also contains news clippings, books, maps, and other materials that cover the history of Glendale, neighboring cities, and California in general. The collection is particularly useful for local history and genealogy research projects. Special Collections also houses the Cat Collection, one of the largest collections of feline-related materials in the world.

The Special Collections Room is currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m and 1 to 3 p.m., Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and by appointment. Please call (818) 548-2037 for additional information.

Glendale History: Before the Americana at Brand

(click on the photograph to view a larger version in a new window)

As the Americana at Brand prepares to open its doors to the public just a block west of the Glendale Central Library, it seems fitting to take a look back at the neighborhood where the Americana will reside. This photograph (courtesy of the Special Collections Room of the Glendale Public Library) shows Brand Boulevard looking north, dating from around 1936. Harvard Street, which will act as the eastern entrance into the Americana, crosses Brand Boulevard here behind the Western Auto Supply Co. sign on the left and in front of the Famous Department Store building on the right.

Other notable businesses in this image that operated in the area now covered by the Americana include a Pep Boys Auto Supplies store and the Capital Theatre. The tall building in the top center of the photograph is the Bank of America Building, which would be torn down in 1982 to make room for the Galleria II project.

The Special Collections Room in the Central Library contains thousands of photographs, news clippings, books, maps, and other materials that cover the history of Glendale, neighboring cities, and California in general. The collection is particularly useful for local history and genealogy research projects. Special Collections also houses the Cat Collection, one of the largest collections of feline-related materials in the world.

The Special Collections Room is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m and 1 to 3 p.m., Saturdays from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and by appointment. Please call (818) 548-2037 for additional information.

Listen to a book via Playaway!

Listen to the Glendale Public Library’s newest sound – Playaways (tm).

Playaways are the most simple and immediate way to enjoy full-length audio books, read by talented and engaging readers. A small plastic player holds an entire audio book. Listen with standard headphones or through your car or home MP3 audio input. We’ll even provide a set of earbuds for $1.00.

The Glendale Central Library has many popular fiction, non-fiction and children’s titles, and a variety of language learning audios are soon to follow. Borrow Playaways from the library for free with your Glendale or Pasadena library card for a three-week loan period.

They are currently located to your right just past the Circulation Desk at the Central Library. Or you can find them in the online catalog by title or by entering the keyword "Playaway".

Careers In Videogame and Computer Animation Event

Are you interested in learning about what it’s like to work in the videogame and computer animation industries? Come to the Glendale Central Library Auditorium this Saturday, March 8th, at 12 noon, and hear from three artists who have worked on videogames, animated shorts, commercials, and feature films. The panelists -- a Concept Artist, a 3D Character Modeler, and a CG Animator -- will show some of their work and will talk about what they do and how they got there. Refreshments will be provided.

Teens can stick around after the panel and play Wii on the big screen! This event is free and open to all.

Self Pick-Up Holds at the Central Library

The Glendale Central Library is undergoing a long, slow renovation process that will affect where things are located in the building. At the moment, in an effort to streamline our services, we have created a Self Pick-Up shelving area for you to claim whatever you have requested from other branches, from the Pasadena library system, or has come in from being checked out. That is, you can pick up anything for which you were notified via email, phone call, or postcard.

You can now go to the holds shelf which is located towards the left as you walk past the Circulation Desk and into the main Reading Room. It's right behind the New Book shelves. Look for the large green sign on top of the shelf and pick up items which are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the requestor. To protect privacy, these items are wrapped in paper.

Please note: If you phoned us at the Reference Desk to have a book or media item retrieved from the shelves by a reference librarian, that item will likely be waiting for you behind the Circulation Desk at the front of the library if we've had time time to get it here. (Usually about an hour or so.) Just ask the friendly Circulation staffer at the loan desk. If you have requested an Interlibrary Loan book from outside the Glendale and Pasadena systems it will be there, too, after it comes in.