By Drew Sitton • Times of San Diego

Copyright timesofsandiego

One of the most exciting parts of librarian Kristina Garcia’s career occurred in the old Central Library but her connection to the space started long before that. As the city announced it was seeking buyers or lessees to redevelop the 1954 building into housing, she reminisced about what the space at 820 E St. meant to her and other staff during the 59 years it stored San Diego’s main library collection. “Unfortunately, we did outgrow the space,” said Garcia, now the librarian for the adult high school diploma program. “And I’m very glad we have so much more space and we can offer so many great programs now in the New Central but the Old Central was a very special part of my work history and my family.”

Favorite memories

Garcia’s father, a lawyer who worked downtown, would take her on visits to the Central Library. It reminded her of a 1950s school with a few unique features. The seal of San Diego on the floor, Donal Hord’s sculptures and classic wood features from the original San Diego Carnegie Library stood out to her as a child. “The facade outside was always very artistic, you know, and majestic,” said Garcia. She is glad that the historic significance of these features means they will be preserved even as the building as a whole is redeveloped. It was many years after Garcia’s childhood visits when, already well into her career as a librarian, she began working inside the Central Library in 2001.

She was located on one of the two basement floors as a second-level reference librarian for the Serra Cooperative. Eventually, she started working at reference desks on the three above-ground stories of the library. Unlike today’s Central Library which is divided by floors, the old library was split into sections.

Each section had a reference desk where the librarians stationed there would be subject matter experts on the section’s topic, like history, sciences, literature, etc. Garcia started in the art, music and recreation area. She stayed at the library until it closed in 2013, working with librarians to meet the needs of over a thousand daily visitors.

Then, the Central Library at 330 Park Blvd. in East Village opened.

One of Garcia’s most exciting opportunities occurred during the move from old to new when she packed up The Wangenheim Collection, which includes rare books, manuscripts, rugs and other artifacts that chronicle the development of books through the ages.

She calls it “a really special thing that I got to do.” Leaving the building she remembered from her childhood, one that also housed much of her career was difficult, as much as the new space was needed. “The staff did find it hard to say goodbye to that old building,” Garcia said.

Unique features

With three stories above ground and two below, the 144,524-square-foot old Central Library offered a unique visitor experience. The collection was largely housed in the two basement floors, which was not open to the public. They were only allowed on the above ground floors where a spiraling brass handrail adorned the stairs. Since the public needed access to the collections, staff members took on the role of runners. Visitors would fill out hold cards of what book they wanted and a runner would use a service elevator down to the basement to find it and bring it up. There were so many shelves in the basement it was a maze. Reflective dots and arrows marked paths to the exit in case staff got lost amid a power outage. “A lot of people, they would think the basement was sort of creepy or spooky,” Garcia said. “But I was never nervous down there, because I thought, ‘Well, if there’s any ghosts down here, they’d be so well read, they’d be very civilized, and I’m sure (would) not be a problem. We could just start discussing books or something.’”

Redevelopment

The Old Central Library has stood empty for the past decade, serving for a brief period as a homeless shelter from 2023-2024. Garcia hopes the site will no longer be vacant after being declared surplus land by the San Diego City Council in July under California’s Surplus Land Act.

“I hope it does get revived in something that the community finds useful. But I understand the wheels move slowly,” Garcia said. When it was put on the market in September, government leaders noted that the old Central Library is on prime real estate that could be used to better serve the community. Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement, “By inviting proposals for its future, we are taking the first step toward transforming this long-vacant building into something that better serves our residents and contributes to a more vibrant downtown. I look forward to seeing creative ideas that honor its legacy while delivering real public value for San Diegans.”Buyers or lessees have until Nov. 3 to submit letters of interest.