Upcoming Events at the
Morro Bay Library

"Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right then it's not yet the end." - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

For the comfort of all attending events, please come fragrance-free to all our programs.

Morro Bay Friends of the Library hold regular book sales to raise funds for the library. Friends also provide volunteers to support library services and operations, publish a quarterly newsletter and maintain awareness of library needs and services throughout the community. For more information contact Red Davis via Email or go to Morro Bay Friends of the Library.

Interview with John Kim

Who is John Kim and why did we name a room after him?

John Kim, who lives in Los Osos, built our current Library building.

In 1982, the Morro Bay Library outgrew the space that it occupied at 410 Morro Bay Boulevard – in a converted pool room. Jude Sanner, who began work in 1975 as Assistant Librarian, struck up a conversation one day with Mr Kim at the circulation desk. He told her that he could build a new structure to house the overflowing materials.

Jude put him in touch with the Morro Bay Friends of the Library and they reached agreement over a handshake – Mr Kim told Don and Jane Bailey that if they raised $125,000, he would build them a library.

Grace Melton took charge of raising the money and arranging for pro bono contributions from local businesses. The Baileys provided public relations and coordinated political support from Mayor Warren Dorn and the City Council.

Mr. Kim bargained with business owners and contractors to have labor and materials supplied at the least possible cost, and for free if possible. Local restaurants brought hot lunches to the worksite and barbers cut workers’ hair for free. Morro Bay gas stations discounted their prices for anyone who worked on the project. Members of the California Conservation Corps donated free labor to do rough framing. The entire city participated - our Library has always been a community treasure.

District 2 Supervisor Bill Coy made sure that the County supplied all the finishing touches that turn an empty building into a Library. The John Kim room was added to the original plans as a community meeting room. Jane Bailey and Grace Melton insisted that Mr Kim’s name be attached to it.

In the end, Mr Kim brought the project in on time and on budget, 6,500 square feet at a cost of $19.23 per square foot, a tribute to inventive and persistent cost-cutting efforts. Now, 29 years later, our building is undergoing a major remodel of the interior space. We hope to re-open mid-January, 2015.