library, now numbering 800 volumes, over to the city of Santa Monica. The town trustees accepted the gift. In December 1890, the first City Librarian, Ms. Elfie Mosse, was appointed. Two rooms in the Bank of Santa Monica building, located at Oregon Avenue (later Santa Monica Boulevard) and Third Street, were set aside for the library. Use of the reading rooms was free of charge, but borrowing privileges cost 25 cents per month. In March 1893, the library was made free to the public. By this time, the library had 1,800 volumes. By 1898, the library expanded to include another room. In March 1903, the library moved to the new City Hall, located at Fourth Street and Oregon Avenue (later Santa Monica Boulevard), which provided more space. The Carnegie library buildings As the city grew, so did the library's collection. In early 1903, Mrs. J. H. Clark wrote to Andrew Carnegie, making a plea for a library building in Santa Monica. Carnegie's reply in April 1903 stated in part: "... Mr. Carnegie will be pleased to furnish Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars to erect a Free Public Library Building for Santa Monica." Within a short time, the citizens raised $3982.50 and purchased a lot on the northeast corner of Oregon Avenue and Fifth Street. Work began on the building in January 1904. The library opened to the public eight months later, on August 11. According to the 1912–13 library annual report, the collection had increased to 18,568 volumes and annual circulation totaled 80,666. The collection was already beginning to outgrow the building. The need for branch libraries also became evident. The mayor wrote to the Carnegie Corporation requesting a grant to help with construction costs of a branch library. Carnegie granted $12,500. The Ocean Park branch library, located on a parcel of land on the northeast corner of Ocean Park Boulevard and Main Street that the City had purchased for $8,000, opened to the public on February 15, 1918. The main library in the 1920s and 1930s In 1926, a bond issue was passed in the sum of $50,000 for the reconstruction and expansion of the Main library located at Santa Monica Boulevard and Fifth Street. The small Carnegie-funded structure was enlarged and remodeled into a Spanish-style design by E. J. Baume, with two additional wings. The expanded Main library opened to the public on November 18, 1927. One of