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County Free Library work in a state like California with such variety of topographical, climatic, and social conditions, offers possibly more picturesque points along with its routine than any other type of library work…

The County Librarian reaches nearly every point the books do, and the ideal County Librarian in addition to a thorough knowledge of technique, should have an iron constitution, the instinct of a social worker, and the spirit of a pioneer.

Anne Hadden, 1925

Anne Hadden knew there was an open position in Monterey County for a head county librarian to establish their new California Free County Library. In the summer of 1913, Anne was returning by train to Sacramento, where she worked, from a convention in Santa Barbara. She took a chance and left the train in Salinas, hoping she could interview for the available job without an appointment. First she met with a city librarian and a county clerk, and they directed her to a member of the Board of Supervisors, a person who had approved the establishment of the new library the year before. After her spontaneous interview, Anne may have had little hope of obtaining the position, yet shortly thereafter she received notice of her appointment.

The Monterey Board of Supervisors had approved a resolution to join the new California County Free Library system in August of 1912. They wanted to start the library as soon as tax money was available to hire a librarian. Anne’s timing was perfect; $3,200 of taxes had been collected.

Anne had studied the new 1909 and 1911 California County Library Laws, filled out an application, and taken the examination for a county library position. She had been the first head librarian at the City of Palo Alto Library for ten years, since completing her studies at Stanford University in 1901.

Anne certainly had the right education and experience for the job. Even with her experience, however, was Anne prepared for the rigors of starting a new library system in the vast County of Monterey? She had lived for many years in Palo Alto, about seventy-five miles from the County, and must have known how wild and extensive Monterey County was, with many isolated residents. She would be starting from a blank slate, in a job that would entail travel under very difficult conditions. However, Anne was looking for a challenge and a change in her career path. She was thirty-eight years old.

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A look into Anne’s earlier life sheds some light on her spirit of adventure and her intelligence, both of which helped prepare her for her new job. Anne was born in Ireland in 1874, the oldest of six children. The family lived in Dublin, a well-established city with many cultural and educational opportunities for growing children.

Anne’s father, Dr. David Hadden, was a highly-respected and successful doctor in Dublin. In July of 1890, his family was summering at a resort in the country. Dr. Hadden was at the railroad station waiting to catch a train to visit his family. While standing on the platform, he had a massive heart attack and died. He was forty-five years old. The family was devastated. Anne’s mother, Elizabeth Hadden, was at a loss as to what to do, knowing she had six children to raise on her own and facing expensive education in Ireland.

However, soon after her husband’s death, Elizabeth’s brother, William Vickery, contacted her. He was a successful art gallery owner in San Francisco, California. Vickery told Elizabeth about the free education in California. Because education for her six children was so important to her, Elizabeth decided to move from Ireland to California, on her own with six children.

A huge trip such as this was a brave undertaking for a Victorian widow. Elizabeth sold the medical practice in Dublin and borrowed some money from relatives. In 1891 after booking “saloon passage” [first class] on a ship, she traveled with her children from Liverpool, England to New York, and then by train to California. The family settled into a house her brother built for them, next door to his own in the hills of Oakland.

Anne was seventeen when they arrived in California, and was required to attend a few years of high school. When she graduated in 1894, she worked as a secretary and studied at the University of California in Berkeley.

The Move to Palo Alto

In the mid 1890’s, her mother heard about the free education available at Stanford University in Palo Alto. In another brave move, Elizabeth relocated the family to Palo Alto in 1897, so all of her children could attend Stanford. Today Stanford is a very expensive private university, but when it was founded by Leland Stanford, it was very well-endowed and free to students. Unusual for the times, girls were encouraged to attend.

Anne and her siblings benefited greatly from the marvelous education available. At the time David Hadden, Anne’s brother and my grandfather, had graduated from U.C. Berkeley and was attending Cooper Medical School in San Francisco (later connected to Stanford). He became a successful doctor in Berkeley, California. Anne’s sister Elizabeth became a librarian in Palo Alto; her sister Evelyn spent her career in India as a Methodist missionary. Another sister Ellen was a tapestry artist who designed machine stitched handiwork, very much ahead of her time. Ellen’s work was exhibited at the 1939 World’s Fair, and in 1940 she was recognized in Who’sWho in American Art.

Most women in this era needed to choose between a career and marriage. Married women generally did not work outside the home. For women who chose careers, the jobs available were mostly those where the skills were learned in the home. Anne and her four sisters all chose to be educated and to remain single, “to paddle their own canoes.” Their mother was a strong role model for them, and the death of their father and subsequent immigration to America brought them together as a family with bonds that lasted for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately their mother, Elizabeth Hadden, passed away in 1905 after only a few years in Palo Alto. Thereafter Anne, being the oldest, helped to support and raise her younger siblings.

As we shall see, most of Anne’s social contacts during her lifelong career arose out of her connections to her family and her work. Only her brother, Dr. David Hadden, married and had children. Lifelong close connections to her sisters and to her brother, and his family, were most important to Anne. As one of her great-nieces, I have fond memories of the “aunties” when they visited our family in Berkeley. Anne also met many of her friends through her library work, people who remained her friends during her entire lifetime.

Anne started working in the Palo Alto Library, when she was studying at Stanford University. In 1901 Anne became Palo Alto’s first city librarian when the new Carnegie Library opened. She held the position for ten years. This experience in library work would help prepare her for the challenges facing her in the newly created job of providing all residents in the large county of Monterey with library service.

Anne was tall, athletic, and strong. These physical characteristics, along with her love of nature and natural surroundings, aided her greatly in the challenges ahead. In addition, her friendliness, patience, and spiritual interests contributed to her enjoyment of the life she would find in her new position.

Anne possessed a remarkable spirit of adventure and the intellect necessary for great success as a pioneer county librarian.

The adventuresome job went to the adventurer!

The Hadden Family, Dublin Ireland abt. 1889. Anne, seated at center top.

The Hadden Family coming to America in 1891.

The Salinas Carnegie Library

Postcard to Family, June 1913

Establishment of the Monterey County Free Libraries, August 6, 1912

Appointment of the first Librarian, July 21, 1913