The John Packard Library of Yuba County is one of the oldest public libraries west of the Mississippi. It was originally organized by the Young Men's Literary and Scientific Association in 1855 as the Marysville Library Association. The main objective of the association was to gather materials together and maintain a reading room where its members could come together socially and improve their mental state. The first books purchased by the Association were bought in New York and shipped around the Horn. Donations of books, magazines, pamphlets and maps were made by benevolent friends to stock the library before the shipment from New York arrived.

To make the library available to all the citizens of Marysville, the Marysville Library Association gift deeded its collection to the City on December 15, 1858. A room on the second floor of City Hall was assigned for use as library and reading room.

	In 1861 the library was moved to the second floor of the newly built Masonic Hall. Ten years later it was once again returned to City Hall to take advantage of the free gas being supplied to the city at that location.

Hearing that the Marysville City Library was having difficulty maintaining quarters, mining magnate John Packard, a pioneer merchant of Marysville and a charter member of the Library Association, resolved to provide a building. In October 1900, Packard deeded to the City Of Marysville property on the corner of Fourth and C Streets. In 1905 he employed William Curtlett as architect and R. Dewar as contractor for the construction of the library.
 

The library building on Fourth and C Streets was completed on March 14,1906 and opened to the public on October 12, 1906. This new, larger library had several floors. The ground floor was set up to include a smoking room to be open everyday. The first floor was the main reading room containing book stacks, the librarian's office, work space and a children's area. A mezzanine overlooked the first floor and contained the "Poppy Room" (later called the California Room) which was used in 1910 to gather together pioneer relics, photographs and other items. On the top floor was a hallway and a large auditorium with speaker's rooms.

Before June 30, 1972 the Marysville City Library served the citizens of Marysville and also those county residents willing to pay the yearly fee required by the city. Concerned citizens of Yuba County petitioned the Yuba County Board of Supervisors for county-wide library services and with the support of the governing bodies of both city and county, the city library became the Marysville-Yuba County Library on July 1, 1972.
 

In 1972, plans were made to either remodel the Packard building or to construct a new structure when it became evident that the building was falling behind codes and standards for access by those with disabilities. After much deliberation, it was decided to build a new library in the redevelopment area of Marysville at Second and C Streets. The construction of this building was funded under the Library Services Act, Yuba County, the City of Marysville, and the United States Office of Education. The new John Packard Library of Yuba County was opened to the public in June 1977.

California Room Contact: Regina Zurakowski (530) 749-7386

Please click on brochure for further information on the services provided by the library on the California Room .

©2008 Yuba County, California