History
The city of South Gate was incorporated in 1923 with a population of about
2,500 residents. The first South Gate Library was opened that same year in
a back room of City Hall. Starting in 1931, the County of Los Angeles Free
Library began providing library service to local residents. In 1948, the
County of Los Angeles built a library in the South Gate Civic Center, north
of California Avenue and Firestone Boulevard. In the 1960's, plans were
made to build a larger, more modern public library for the prospering
community that was home to several major manufacturers, including General
Motors. In 1973, the Leland R. Weaver Library, named in honor of a former
South Gate councilman, was officially opened to the public at its present
location on Tweedy Boulevard.
Collection
The collection is comprised of 136,174 books; 6,633 audio cassettes;
5,912 video cassettes and 138 current magazines and newspaper subscriptions.
The library offers materials in English and Spanish.
Services
The Weaver Library offers a variety of library services to the residents
of South Gate: general reference assistance, public access Internet
computers and an online library catalog which provides access to
the entire County Library collection as well as to online reference databases.
The library also offers children's programs
including a weekly story hour and a weekly Grandparents and Books program.
The library has a coin-operated typewriters and a public meeting room
(available on a rental basis). There is a
Homework Center to support
the educational needs of students from local schools.
Facilities
Located in the Tweedy Mile Shopping District, this 21,207 square foot
building has separate adult and children's areas and a meeting room with
a capacity of 110. The Weaver Library is the larger of the two libraries
in the city of South Gate, the second being the
Hollydale Library.
Political Representatives
Local Links
