The Carnegie Library Legacy Lives ON!

Before I bought my house, I drove to the neighborhood, parked my car and walked around. It was a little rough around the edges (the San Jose Mercury News once referred to us as the grittier neighborhood to the east of Naglee Park) but it seemed interesting, lively and yet peaceful for a downtown neighborhood. I liked the mix of architecture and the variety of ethnic food available. But what I liked most was the classic little East San Jose Carnegie Library right on the corner of my street (during prohibition my little neighborhood seceded from San Jose and was its own city hence the name East San Jose) . The selection of books was slim (it has a high DVD to book ratio) but as part of the San Jose Library system (which is completely on-line) I could have any book I wanted practically delivered to my door. Then our little library closed for two years for remodeling. Today it reopened in all its new glory. The new library literally encompasses the old library and what used to be the wood trim on the outside now graces the inside. The metal hoops which hang from the ceiling are filled with images of neighborhood birds and leaves cut from iridescent plexiglass. The grand opening was a little too crowded to get a real feel for the new interior, but I am sure I'm going to love having it open again.