:: La Sierra Library
4600 La Sierra Avenue
Riverside, CA 92505
(951) 688-7740
Hours
Monday-Thursday: 10 am - 9 pm
Friday & Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday: Closed
Facilities
The meeting room has a grand piano, can seat 144, has kitchen facilities and can be booked by calling the branch. In addition, the branch has 2 quiet study rooms available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Programs
Storytime: Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.
After School Activities and other events: Please check the library calendar (PDF).
Library History
From 1914 to 1928, County Library book stations were maintained intermittently in La Sierra. Between 1950 and 1951, a first attempt was made to maintain a La Sierra book station. In June 1957, the County Library finally opened a branch in a cottage on Whitford Avenue, next door to the Community Hall. In April 1963, the Branch moved into larger rented quarters on Pierce Place. The following year, La Sierra area was annexed by the City of Riverside.
La Sierra Groundbreaking
In 1970, the "Master Plan Study for Libraries" was adopted by the Riverside City Council as a guideline for development through 1990; a major urban branch at La Sierra was the first priority of this plan. Between 1973 and 1974, the City purchased a lot on the northwest corner of La Sierra and Schuyler avenues as a site for the new La Sierra branch.
On 24 March 1976, the new La Sierra Library — a 9,000-square-foot building designed by the Riverside architectural firm of Peter Lawson Hansen — was dedicated. Nearly ten years later, in September 1985, an adult literacy training program, called the "Blueprint for Literacy," was headquartered at the branch (the literacy program is now located at the Eastside branch). In 2002, the library was renovated.
Sources include: Serving Through Partnership: A Centennial History of the Riverside City and County Public Library, 1888-1988, by Ronald J. Baker and The Press Enterprise.