The Dayton Ave. Branch

     Before Cypress Park had it's own library, deposit stations were used. Deposit Stations were first established in 1912 and Loreto Street School was the first one used in Cypress Park and supervised my Miss Jessie Gearhart, the principal of the school. A second deposit station was opened at nearby Aragon Elementary School and was supervised by that schools Principal, Jessie Crandall. The third deposit station was housed in the car barns of the L.A. railway. A widow of a street car conductor was paid to act as it's custodian.

     Through the efforts of Miss Gearhart and other community members a store building was rented at 507 w. Ave 28 just off Dayton Ave. (Dayton Ave. was later changed to Figueroa Ave.) 

The Dayton Ave branch opened it's doors on October 11, 1920. 

  The interior furninshings of the Dayton Ave Branch consisted of one desk for charging, one catalog, three long tables and two short ones, with shelves on both sides, the children's books on one and the adult books on the other.

  Miss Emily Richie, a senior attendant, formerly of San Diego, was in charge of the library the first year, followed by Miss Bessie Markson for one month then Mr. Hubert Frazier who acted as Librarian from Oct. 1921 until August, 1923.

    

  Miss Reba Dwight was first in charge of Children's work at this branch and 9 others. She resigned in 1922 to take a position in Hilo, Hawaii.

  As the circulation numbers for the Dayton Ave. Branch increased in it's 7 year existence the space inside the library did the opposite."S.R.O." or "Standing Room Only" signs were often used and a bigger library was desperately needed.

The Dayton Ave. branch closed it's doors on April 30th, 1927. A new branch would be built a few blocks away and be named the "Richard Henry Dana Branch" to keep with the Los Angeles Public Library's tradition of naming branches after authors who wrote about California.

But that's another story. 

More information on this branch can be found here.