The Friends of the Aptos Library have started a new program called Our Community Reads, which asks everyone to read the same book, and then a series of special events are planned to enrich the experience for those people who did read the book. The Friends also hold book sales and fundraisers to make our library a better place for all of us. But, what if there were no Aptos Library? Our story begins with the very first “friend” who started the library.
Upon completing high school, David McFadden moved to Aptos with his parents in 1929. For his first local job he worked for Bob and Kate Menefee at the Ocean House Hotel on Aptos Street where today’s Aptos Street Barbeque is located. Bob Menefee ran the grocery store downstairs and Kate took care of the guest rooms upstairs. David McFadden worked from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily for which he was paid $1 per day plus all his meals. Later, David worked in a Watsonville pharmacy.
David noticed that there wasn’t much to read in Aptos except magazines like Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang, which was long on humor but short on educational content. David’s appetite for books began to get the better of him. In 1931, David went to see Minerva Waterman, the Santa Cruz City/County librarian who held that position for 40 years. David’s parents owned the Harper building, a stucco fronted building in Aptos Village. Part of the building was vacant and would be perfect for a small library. Minerva Waterman agreed to pay $5 a month for lights and water. (This was at the height of the Depression.)
These were the days when apples were the main industry in town, so David collected 30 to 40 wooden apple boxes and stacked them up six high as shelves for the books. Once a week he borrowed his mother’s Ford Model A coupe and took an apple crate full of books down to the main library in Santa Cruz to exchange them for a new selection.
For more than two years he opened the library two afternoons and three evenings a week and circulated 40-50 books per week. The collection contained mysteries and westerns, gift magazines, non-fiction books and jigsaw puzzles. Many of the reference books had been brought from David’s home which included the World Book Encyclopedia, World Almanac, and dictionaries. Soon, everyone was bringing in their own magazines and puzzles and exchanging them.
The library closed in October 1935. Most accounts suggest that David left because he wanted to visit Mexico, but in an interview with Carolyn Swift, David said that Minerva Waterman, the librarian, became angry because he added an anthropological book about Southeast Asia to the local collection. The book contained a lot of “interesting pictures.”
David McFadden wound up being the assistant librarian at Cabrillo College for 16 years. The original library building did not fare as well. The old Harper building, which housed a barber shop and an interior design business, was destroyed by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
Aptos was without a library until May 1944. Gas was being rationed because of World War II so Aptos residents were seldom able to drive to the Santa Cruz library. Mrs. Hellen Wikkerink started collecting discarded books and Mrs. Geraldine Work, the Santa Cruz librarian, arranged for a starter collection of 200 books with some specifically for children. The provision was that the location had to be rent free and Mrs. Wikkerink the librarian, had to be a volunteer. A tiny space was provided by Paul Johnson in the Aptos Market. A furniture fundraiser was sponsored by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, the Rio del Mar Improvement Association and the Sea Cliff Association. Library hours were 2:30-5:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The library soon relocated to the abandoned office of the Norton Phelps Lumber Company near today’s Aptos Station shopping center.
The library moved several more times. Next, to Fred Toney’s drug store beside the Bay View Hotel and in 1952 it relocated in the same building but facing Trout Gulch Road. Mrs. Wikkerink retired in 1962. As the library grew, it was relocated to Rancho Del Mar shopping center on Dec. 15, 1964.
In 1971, a search was conducted for a permanent library location and the new library at the corner of Soquel Drive and Ledyard Way was dedicated June 28, 1975. The library opened for business on Monday, June 30 circulating 1,142 books and it continues to be one of the busiest in the system.
This month’s Coffee, Tea & History event will be “Local History Through the Lens” by award-winning photographer, Shmuel Thaler, who will present stunning photos showcasing the history of our community. Saturday, March 24, 2-3:30 p.m. $20 general, $15 museum members, at the Rio Sands Hotel community room, 116 Aptos Beach Drive. Reservations are required, 688-1467.
If you enjoy these stories, please consider joining the museum. Thank you for the many generous donations that help keep the museum open.
