About Visalia

 

The Visalia Free Library, built

with Carnegie Corporation

funds, opened on May 31,

1904. From 1910 to 1919 the County of Tulare maintained the Tulare County Free Library system under the laws of the State of California at the same location. In 1926 the city of Visalia offered to furnish a site and pay one-half the construction cost as well as to pay its share of maintenance for a new library building for the County. The offer was declined. On August 3, 1961, additional space was added to the Visalia Library when a children’s reading room and a stack room officially were opened for use. In 1976 a new Joint Tulare County/Visalia City Library building was constructed with grant funds, for one and one-half million dollars. The Annie Mitchell History Room was added in 1983.

The old City Library, built in 1936 and used for storage since 1976, was converted into a children’s wing in October 2008. The main library building, built in 1976, was remodeled following the opening of the children’s wing in 2008.