Saratoga Village Library

The building that formerly housed the Saratoga Village Library was designed in 1927 by architect Eldridge T. Spencer (1892-1978). For over half a century, the town's library was housed here. Spencer's firm also drew up plans for a new library that was built elsewhere in Saratoga in 1978. For five years after the new library opened, this building served as a second public library. The building has been converted into a used bookstore called Book-Go-Round, operated since 1983 by volunteers with the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries; profits go toward the Saratoga Library. The Saratoga Village Library is a City of Saratoga heritage resource and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 for its long association with the development of civic life in twentieth-century Saratoga.

Saratoga ladies established an informal local library in a village drugstore in 1909. The County of Santa Clara established a system of libraries in the 1910s, with a branch at Saratoga in 1914, still within the drugstore. The village only held about 400 residents in 1918. In 1921, the library branch moved to the Sunday School room of the Christian Church but needed more space. A local committee raised $12,000 in donations in the 1920s to build a village library, including thirty dollars in donations from schoolchildren. The site where the Saratoga Village Library was constructed in 1927 was the southeast corner of the intersection of Saratoga-Los Gatos Road and Oak St. This corner was part of a large residential lot in the late 1910s; a one-story, wood-frame house stood here by 1918, with a wooden shed in the rear yard (see the Sanborn map image). The lot was purchased from a Mrs. Deming by the building committee in late 1926. The costs to build were estimated at nearly $9,000.

The first day of operation of the Eldridge T. Spencer-designed library was September 22nd, 1927. Formal dedication ceremonies took place on November 7th; Los Gatos resident and writer Ruth Comfort Mitchell penned a special poem for the event. Spencer also designed many of the buildings at Yosemite National Park and years later, many at Stanford University. The Spanish Revival-style, one-story, wood-frame building was clad in concrete block and topped by a red clay tile roof. Concrete block was touted as a wondrous material with a hollow core that would keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. The library was the first concrete block building in the town. The County of Santa Clara began to operate the library in late 1927 as its Saratoga branch.

The front door faced Oak St. and a rear door was reserved for library staff. The inside was divided by bookshelves into three sections of a single, long room with a capacity of 10,000 volumes; a storage room was in the rear of the library. Ahead of the entry vestibule was the central section, with workspaces for librarians. The north end of the room was designed as the children's reading area; a south wing with taller ceilings and exposed beams was the adult reading area. Plenty of large windows let in light, and a fireplace helped heat the space in the winter. Besides its popular reading-themed clubs and story times, the library became the site of many exhibits of local art, special events, and local meetings of groups including the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters. The library was later named the Sheldon P. Patterson Memorial Library to honor a man who was instrumental in the library's creation; he headed the citizens' committee that acquired the land and had the library constructed. There is a plaque with his name at the front entrance. Other members of the building committee in 1926 were Robert L. Hogg and Louisa N. Scott. Mr. Patterson had been a newspaperman in the Chicago area and spent the last thirteen years of his life as a Saratoga resident, where he served on the school board and the Saratoga Improvement Association. He was the only man to receive an honorary membership to the Foothills Club, a local ladies' association. Both Mr. Patterson and, two months later, his wife passed away in 1928; he was age 67.

The building has been converted into a used bookstore called Book-Go-Round, operated since 1983 by volunteers with the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries; profits go toward the Saratoga Library. Two satellite locations also sell used books for the library's benefit: the Friends' Cafe Bookstore in the current library and the Bookshelves in the lounge of the Joan Pisano Community Center. Besides upgrades to utilities and the replacement of part of the tile roof after a tree fell onto the building, the building has been carefully preserved.

Anonymous. "Last Rites for Former Editor Held Monday." Los Gatos Star (Los Gatos) June 28th, 1928. 1-, 5.

Anonymous. "Mrs. S. P. Patterson." Los Gatos Star (Los Gatos) September 30th, 1928. 5-5.

Patterson, Sheldon P. "Saratoga Library Plans." Los Gatos Star (Los Gatos) November 18th, 1926. 1-1.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Map of Saratoga, Santa Clara County, California. Edition July. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1918.

Santa Clara County Library District. Friends of the Saratoga Libraries, Santa Clara County Library District. June 12th, 2024. Accessed July 11th, 2024. https://sccld.org/saratoga-library/friends/#booksales.

Wyman, Beth. NRHP nomination of Saratoga Village Library, 14410 Oak St., Saratoga, California. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2006.