Library

A.K. Smiley Public Library
125 W. Vine Street
View map
909 798-7565
(Main Library)

909 798-7632
(Heritage Room)

Built in 1894, the Smiley Library is much more than just a public library. Visitors often speculate aloud whether the place was originally built as a church or a mission. One of the few buildings on the National Register of Historic and Scenic Properties, the Smiley Library was indeed originally built as a public library.

Inside the building, take note of the exquisite stained glass windows—all original to the building's construction—and the greystone carvings near the front entrance. The tile floors in the front of the library, nearly a century old, are patterned in a sometimes controversial reverse swastika pattern, a symbol used by the Navajo Indians for 5,000 years.

The Smiley Library makes an excellent jumping-off point for learning about the history of Redlands. Take a trip to the Heritage Room, located at the far east end of the library, for more information on the building and for descriptive literature on Redlands—some free, some for a nominal cost.

Don McCue, archivist for the Heritage Room and Nathan Gonzales, associate archivist, are almost always able to stop and talk with visitors about Redlands, past and present. They will give short tours of the library to those who call first to make an appointment.

Library hours:
Monday-Tuesday...........9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Wednesday-Thursday....9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday.............9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sunday.........................1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.