Lake Tamarisk Public Library

Lake Tamarisk Branch Library, located in Desert Center, is the eastern most library in the Riverside Library System. It serves a small community of 150 full time residents with the addition of approximately 300 winter visitors. As such it is a much treasured resource in our remote community as it is the only amenity available to our residents.

In the beginning our library started with a box of books in the Desert Center Café. After the Kaiser mine opened a small library was formed in one of the buildings. In 1970 the present Riverside County building used jointly by the fire department and our library was constructed.

Upon the closing of Kaiser mine in the early 1980s leading to the departure of most of the area residents, the plan to close the Lake Tamarisk developed. A letter writing campaign instigated by the Friends of the Lake Tamarisk Library prevented the potential sad end to our treasured community asset.