Our Library’s History

The legacy of our library begins nearly a century ago, in a small adobe house with just a few books. Hotels, a real estate office, and even a hardware store served as the library in the past. But the first library in Palm Springs, as we know it, was the Welwood Murray Memorial Library, the very building we are in right now, established in 1919 and located in a Palm Springs hotel. Guests and residents alike took advantage of its offerings.

It wasn’t until 1975 that the main library was established in that iconic building off of Sunrise, the Palm Springs Library Center. The Center still stands today, but is in dire need of updates. Still, we’ve come a long way from our first adobe home to today’s stacks of more than 100,000 resource items.

The mission of the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation is to continue that growth, increasing and broadening the library’s use as a cultural resource and educational institution through financial support.

Ensuring local access to high-quality library services for generations requires more than just public funding. Although public funds make libraries possible, the Foundation believes that it is private gifts that make them flourish. 

To that end, the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation seeks to create a long-term supplemental funding program based on private contributions that will enhance public investment in the Library.