John Steinbeck Library funding, saved the library. Had the libraries closed, Salinas would have been the largest city in the United States without a library. John Steinbeck Library The John Steinbeck Library is a public library in Salinas, California. The library was named after writer John Steinbeck in 1969. The library held the Steinbeck archives until 1998 when they were transferred to the new National Steinbeck Center. The library made national headlines in 2004 and 2005 when it, along with the two other libraries in Salinas, were on the verge of closing because of insufficient funding. In 2005, a nationally covered read-in drew
John Steinbeck to name names in the House Un-American Activities Committee trials. Steinbeck called the period one of the "strangest and most frightening times a government and people have ever faced." In 1967, when he was sent to Vietnam to report on the war, his sympathetic portrayal of the United States Army led the "New York Post" to denounce him for betraying his liberal past. Steinbeck's biographer, Jay Parini, says Steinbeck's friendship with President Lyndon B. Johnson influenced his views on Vietnam. Steinbeck may also have been concerned about the safety of his son serving in Vietnam. Steinbeck complained publicly about government