By Mary O’KEEFE

On Jan. 25, the La Crescenta Library celebrated its 15th anniversary with cake, cookies and a magic show.

One afternoon visit to the La Crescenta Library and visitors will see this is a very popular place in the community. In addition to being a place where kids go after school to use computers and do homework, it is also a place where young children and their parents/caregivers explore the shelves of books and DVDs.

This is Year 15 of the “new” La Crescenta Library though the area has had a library since 1914. La Crescenta Library first opened in November 1914 as the 78th branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library. 

“The collection was first housed in a local church building and subsequently moved several times; once into a school house, later into a local store front and into the Sears building in 1926,” according to the La Crescenta Library website. 

The present La Crescenta Library was opened in 2009. On Saturday, the library held an anniversary celebration that started with magician Dave Skale and ended with cookies and cake.

 Marta Wiggins, library manager, told the anniversary audience that this building started as part of a hill. 

“They had to carve it out and you can see our field stones that are part of our architecture. Those [stones] were recovered from the building site,” Wiggins said. “It took them two years to create the building and it was completed just after the recovery of the Station Fire.”

The Station Fire occurred in August and September of 2009. It burned along the Angeles National Forest. It affected the foothills’ community including La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge and Sunland-Tujunga. The Station Fire burned 160,577 acres. 

“So, 15 years later and we’re beginning our recovery from the Eaton Fire,” she added. 

She thanked everyone for their support and for making the “La Crescenta Library vibrant, beautiful and wonderful.”

“When we opened the library we were 14th [in checkouts] in our [then] 89 [library system]. Today we are number two in checkouts in our [present] 86 library system,” Wiggins said. “I am so proud and pleased to be part of this community.”

The La Crescenta Library has had many outreach events over its 15 years including art contests, a chili cook-off and a very popular afternoon tea. Magician Dave Skale was an entertainer at the library on Saturday. He brought a lot of laughter to kids as he performed his amazing sleight of hand magic while keeping the young kids in his audience guessing and giggling. 

Skale called up young helpers who were surprised as coins appeared from their ears and even from the magician’s nose. 

The La Crescenta Library is located at 2809 Foothill Blvd. at the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and La Crescenta Avenue. 

Upcoming events can be found at the La Crescenta Library at lacountylibrary.org. For information on magician David Skale go to https://davidskale.com/home/index.html.