A Childhood Library to Remember

by Arielle McCune, Youth Services Librarian

“Mom, how did you do this when you were a kid?” My daughter asked me this question as we were walking around downtown Riverside, California, last month. The high for that day reached 102 degrees. It was definitely a scorcher. I assured her that the temperature didn’t get to triple digits every day in the city I grew up in, although summers are especially hot. We were visiting my hometown as part of a weekslong family vacation to California to celebrate my son’s graduation from high school. We visited aquariums and beaches, went whale-watching, and hung out with family. We flew into San Francisco, drove north to Sacramento, then headed south and eventually ended up in San Diego.

Part of our itinerary included spending some time in Riverside, located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. My son hadn’t been there since he was quite young, and my daughter, Lulu, 11, had never seen where I grew up. I was excited to show them, along with my partner, Shane, my childhood home, the schools I attended, the neighborhood shopping center we went to for groceries, ice cream, and movies, and to visit my two favorite restaurants as a kid: D’Elia’s Grinders and Tony’s Mexican Food (surprisingly, neither establishment had changed its interior much, and it felt like I stepped back into the 1980s in the best and most nostalgic way).

Another must-see location during our day in Riverside was the public library. The city system has eight locations. The Main Library is located downtown and was the one I grew up going to. My mother would take my siblings and me on a regular basis, and we loved hanging out and exploring the children’s room on the second floor. The library building that I knew and loved became The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in 2022. Riverside Public Library (RPL) built a brand-new downtown Main Library, which opened in 2021. While we didn’t have time to visit “The Cheech,” as locals call it, I did show my family the building and peeked in the front windows. Though much has been remodeled, the set of stairs leading to the second floor looked the same and instantly transported me to my younger years. Although she was “melting from the heat,” Lulu did agree to take a picture with me in front of “mom’s childhood library.” It was a full-circle moment for me to stand in that space with my daughter. I was most likely Lulu’s exact age the last time I went to the library with my mom, who died of brain cancer when I was twelve years old.

Thankfully, we were able to visit the new library. This four-story, monolithic building has a space-age, industrial quality to it with a lovely view of Mount Rubidoux. The first two floors are dedicated to the Local History Archives and the top two floors are for the library proper. We toured the children’s area and makerspace, browsed the displays, and took in the city views from the oversized windows. A fun fact about librarians is that we love visiting new (to us) libraries while on vacation. I also wanted to make sure we had time to visit the archives. Earlier this spring, I called RPL to find out if someone there would be able to find my mother’s obituary online. I was referred to Ruth McCormick, the Local History Specialist. I had been looking for a copy of the obituary for quite some time. My paper copy seems to be missing and I haven’t been able to find it on the internet. I remembered that part of my mother’s name was misspelled when the obit ran, but I couldn’t recall what the misspelling was. Because of this, I wasn’t able to find it. In March, Ms. McCormick sent me a digitized copy of the 1990 obituary. She was working the day we visited and it was so meaningful to be able to thank her in person. I asked if she had any pictures of the library from around the 1980s and she pulled out the RPL history binder full of photos. I sat down with my family and reminisced. As we looked through the photos, I was able to share with them a part of my childhood that paved the way for my career as a librarian. Both my mama heart and librarian heart were full that day.