History of Our Project
The unincorporated community of Templeton sits astride highway 101 in northern San Luis Obispo County of California. Located between two larger cities, Atascadero and Paso Robles, the Templeton Community Service District serves some 6900 citizens. The Templeton Unified School District serves some 2,430 students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. One of the schools in the district, Vineyard Elementary School, was designated as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Yet Templeton remains the only community, both incorporated and unincorporated, in San Luis Obispo County without a public library.
Libraries are an important part of this country's system of free public education, and a cornerstone of our democratic way of life. More and more, they serve as community centers. Public libraries encourage reading--at all ages, supplement school resources--for all ages, and enable independent, lifelong learning. One of the standards for a vital and engaged community is to have a public library serving the community members.
Templeton once had a library. In 1913 the Templeton Women’s Club started a library, housing it in their clubhouse. This evolution of the Templeton Library continued in a building at the community park until its closure in 1977. The community is now served only by the county Bookmobile.
During 2000 a Boy Scout from the local Boy Scout
Troop conceived an idea to re-establish a library in Templeton for his Eagle
Scout project. Building a new library was somewhat beyond the scope as an
Eagle Scout project, but his actions did plant a seed with members of the
Templeton community.
