The Cottonwood Branch Library was established Feb. 1,
1950. Funding for Shasta County libraries had been approved in 1948.
The Community Hall was the first location for the library with Anna
Horn as the librarian. The hall, at 3297 Chestnut St, was to become the
VFW hall and now serves as the meeting place for the American Legion.
Eileen Edwards was the head librarian from 1960-1969.
On Nov. 1, 1969 the library moved from the community hall to next door
to the current Wild West Trading Company on Front Street.
Sharon Thomas was Cottonwood Branch Library director from 1969 to 1988.
The library moved next door to the glass shop and occupied the right
half of the building. It was a small area according to Sharon Thomas.
Thomas took over for Edwards and ran the library until it was closed in
1988.
The library moved in the early 1970s into the same building as
Melinda's Interior Design, 20832 Front St. Where it stayed until 1988.
At that time Shasta County ended funding for libraries and the books
were put in storage.
In 1996 Cliff Thomas and Mary O'Keeffe approached Caroline Chambers of
the Shasta County Library to discuss the then closed Cottonwood Library
and the possibility of reopening. After several meetings and the
drawing up of a contract, written by Mary O'Keeffe, between the
Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce and the County of Shasta,it was agreed
that the County would loan the original books and fixtures to the community of
Cottonwood. At that time Cliff and Sharon Thomas and Mary O'Keeffe
enlisted several community members to form a non-profit group known as
the Cottonwood Community Library. The group included Dr. James and
Mary Reifert.The books and fixtures remained the property of Shasta
County. Over the years the collection of books was updated and the
County's books were returned. The county allowed us to keep some of the
fixtures. The books in the currant library are all property
of the Cottonwood Community Library. Proceeds from Dr. Reifert's
Retirement Dinner held for the town by the Cottonwood Chamber of
Commerce was the seed money used to rent the building to house the
library. The group rented the Jose house on Main Street. It is a brick
building with a widow's walk. This building was home to the library until the
year 2000, when the library was moved to 3306 Main St.
This was the last location for the library until the new building at 3427 Main St was built. The grand opening was Saturday, Aug.
4, 2007.
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