Pajaro Branch

Services

• Books, talking books on CDs, DVDs and magazines
• Newspapers: Salinas Californian, Register Pajaronian
• Materials in English and Spanish
• E-Books and E-Audio
• Public computers with Internet, Microsoft Office, fax, print, copy, and scan
• Free wireless Internet
• Homework Center: Fri 2-5pm
• Programs and events for children and adults, and much more

Branch History

Pajaro is an unincorporated community along the Pajaro River, historically a station on the Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad. Its name, which means "bird" in Spanish, may derive from a California Condor spotted by the Portola Expedition, the river's treacherous nature, or the area's abundance of birds.

The Pajaro Library was established on August 1, 1931. It moved to its current location in the Porter Vallejo Mansion at 29 Bishop Street, opening there on October 18, 1996.

The Porter–Vallejo Mansion at 29 Bishop St. in Pajaro, California, is a historic Queen Anne-style residence designed by architect William Henry Weeks. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is notable for its architectural significance and its association with John T. Porter, a business leader and "a central figure locally in the complex issues surrounding California's anti-Chinese movement in 1888." 

Alliance of Monterey Area Preservationists (AMAP) meeting on April 19, 2026 featured historian Meg Clovis describing the restoration of the Porter-Vallejo Mansion in Pajaro. This unique 1890s Queen Anne-style mansion, listed in the National Register, has served as the Pajaro branch library since 1996. But the levee breech and flooding of the Pajaro River in 2023 damaged it severely.

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