Monterey Public Library
625 Pacific St., Monterey , (831) 646-3933, monterey.org
Required reading from the 1980s appears all over Monterey Public Library shelves – The Color Purple, The Handmaid’s Tale and Beloved among them. But the real appeal of this community institution defies time period: California’s first public library enjoys both old-school attention from professor-grade librarians and constantly updated ingredients like free kids’ e-books and a smartphone-friendly history of the library in four languages.