White Rock Branch Library

Located at 133 Longview Drive, the White Rock Branch Library is open the same hours as Mesa Public Library, seven days a week.  Together with Mesa Public Library we make up the Los Alamos County Library System.

HISTORY

The library was founded in 1943, just one year after Los Alamos was selected as the site for the Manhattan Project.  It was started as a subscription library by 70 couples, each of whom donated $5.00 for the purchase of books, and was located in a small room in the Big House, one of the original buildings of the Boys Ranch School.  In 1945 it became a free library when the Army Post Recreational Council handed over financial responsibility to Army Post Special Services.  In 1946, the library became the Mesa Library, guided by a Library Committee of five, and in 1951 it became the Mesa Public Library, an independent corporation under contract with the Atomic Energy Commission.  At that moment is had 30,000 volumes and 7,000 registered volumes.

The White Rock Branch Library is a full service branch that opened in 1985 in a 1400 square foot storefront building.  The library moved to its current location at 133 Longview Drive in 1987.  In 1996 the building was remodeled adding an additional 500 square feet for an approximate total of 4000 square feet.  In 2007 the library was renovated.

In 2010, as part of the Capital Improvement Program, plans began to relocate the library to a larger facility.  This new building is scheduled to be opened at the end of July, 2015.

On July 31, 2015 the new White Rock Branch Library, located at 10 Sherwood Boulevard, opened.