Kern Branch, Beale Memorial Library
The name of this library has changed over time, but its purpose has remained the same. Louise Blanford, writing in A History of Kern County Library, states, “Many people have mistakenly referred to this building [, the Baker Street Library,] as a Carnegie Library. The fact is that it was constructed… with bonds voted by the people of Bakersfield.” The building was finished on July 7, 1915, with a capacity for 30,000 books, and 200 magazines. Orville Lee Clark designed it in an Italian Renaissance version of a Greek Revival/Federal villa. This is the only example of Clark’s work still remaining intact in Kern County. Miss Sarah E. Bedinger, librarian, reported in 1916 that “the library was a busy place… no other place in Bakersfield, excepting saloons, kept open as many hours.” It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bakersfield, Kern County
Photographer: John Bare