Welwood Murray Memorial Library

History

The building, designed by architect John Porter Clark, opened as the main library for the City of Palm Springs in 1941 and served as so until 1975. The Welwood Murray Memorial Library remained a branch until it was closed in 1992 due to budget challenges. It was preserved and acted as a private lending library by a dedicated group of volunteers until it finally closed in 2009. As downtown Palm Springs began its revitalization, the plan to renovate and reopen this historic building began. Funded, in part, by Measure J and the Library Board of Trustees, it is once again a branch of the Palm Springs Public Library, a research library and archive for the Palm Springs Historical Society and a downtown tourism location for our many visitors.

Specialties

The Welwood Murray Memorial Library serves three purposes. It is a branch of the main Palm Springs Public Library (and provides library services such as free WiFi, public use computers and a browsing collection of national magazines and newspapers), a research library for the Palm Springs Historical Society, and a downtown tourism location from the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism for our many visitors. To make an appointment to access the Palm Springs historic archive and research library please contact the Palm Springs Historical Society directly. Please note, their hours are different than the building hours.