Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization Reveals New Little Free Library

Little Free Library Unveiled in Palm Springs

Palm Springs Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein

PALM SPRINGS —The Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization (TPNO) dedicated a new Little Free Library in its neighborhood on Tuesday.

The Little Free Library will hold a variety of books on a range of subjects and visitors will be able to drop off a book to share and/or pick up a book to read. At the event, elected officials, representatives from the neighborhood, and other community organizations celebrated the official unveiling of the new structure, located on Navajo Road, between La Jolla and Marion in Palm Springs. Based on the suggestion of current Board chair Carol Munro, and a conceptual design by Board member Larry Johnson, H3K Home+Design created the technical drawings. TPNO worked with the College of the Desert Department of Architecture and Environmental Design students and staff to fabricate and install the structure. The Little Free Library is the first of its kind in the neighborhood and was financed by funds raised by TPNO’s 2024 Modernism Week Home Tour.

“We are thrilled to bring this project to fruition,” said Carol Munro, TPNO advisory board chairperson. “We first conceived this project about four years ago prior to the pandemic and were finally able to bring it to life with the help of the talented students and staff at the College of the Desert. We are pleased to enhance our neighborhood with this great community resource to provide free access to books.”

Little Free Library Unveiled in Palm Springs

Homeowners Matt Work and Phuong Nguyen, Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein, and Modernism Week Neighborhood Tours Coordinator Evelyn Yardley. (Photo courtesy of Bill Marchese.

The Little Free Library will be managed by TPNO resident Laura Miller, who is on the board of the Friends of the Palm Springs Library and will serve as the Librarian for TPNO’s Little Free Library. There will be a few others involved to make sure the library is well maintained and stocked with books and neighbors will be encouraged to donate books.

The structure was incorporated as a credit project for College of the Desert’s Department of Architecture and Environmental Design and Amistad High School in the Desert Sands Unified School District. A total of 12 students, under the supervision of COD’s construction management program, worked on the project in spring of 2024.

“This project was fun and challenging for our students to complete,” Harling, a faculty member of the COD Construction Management Program, said in a prepared statement. “We were excited by this project as it provided our students with the opportunity for some hands-on construction experience. We were happy to play a role and be involved in this enjoyable neighborhood project.”

TPNO also announced a scholarship donation in the amount of $2,000 to the College of the Desert Architecture and Environmental Design Department.

About the Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization

The Twin Palms neighborhood is in the south end of Palm Springs, California. Until the mid-1950s, it was mostly open desert. Over the past 6 decades a serendipitous set of factors intersected to create the vibrant and diverse community we live in today. The Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization was formed in 2013 and plays an important role in uniting the rich heritage of people and architectural design elements that have played a role in creating today’s Twin Palms.  Twin Palms Neighborhood Organization helps preserve the neighborhood’s legacy and promotes its equally exciting future.

Image Sources

  • Palm Springs mayor: Biil Marchese
  • Unveiling library: Biil Marchese