Gardena Library was born under the sponsorship of the Wednesday Progressive Club before the Los Angeles County Free Library was founded in 1912. In 1914, Gardena Library became a branch of the new County System. Only a few months later, the library was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles City Library Board due to annexation. It was not until August 1951 that Gardena Library came back to the County System. The present 16,000 sq. ft. building was dedicated on December 5, 1964 and re-named Gardena Mayme Dear Memorial Library on May 30, 1992 in honor of the late Mrs. Mayme Dear for her many years of dedicated volunteer services to the library.