| Morongo Reservation Ethnology-Language: Cahuilla, Serrano, Cupeño, and Chemehuevi Established: 1877 County: Riverside Acreage: 32,362 Population: 1,109 (996 enrolled) Location: In south-central California, along Interstate 10, twenty-two miles northwest of the city of Palm Springs, near the community of Banning. A well-developed reservation with health clinic, tribal offices, ranches, farms, a Moravian church that dates back to 1890, and the Malki Museum. The Malki is one of the best collections of local Indian culture in the state and is under the direction of Katherine Siva Saubel. The large casino borders Interstate 10. Library: Morongo's library, in its current location, was established in 1996, although the collection was established in 1988. The library manager, Debbie Gandara, is a tribal member who has worked in the library since 2001. The library’s collection is organized, cataloged and labeled in a very professional manner. The collection is around 7,000 volumes with a color-coded card catalog. Library hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with some evening hours when computer classes are offered in the library's computer lab. The lab has six new Del computers fully equipped with educational software, internet access, printers and scanner. The library clearly serves as the educational hub for the reservation, providing assistance to pre-schoolers, Head Start students, after-school tutoring, GED preparation and adult computer classes. Debbie’s focus has been on improving the usage rates of the library by the children of the Morongo Reservation. This well equipped and appointed library has views from its high ceiling windows of Mt. San Jacinto on one side and Mt. San Gorgonio on the other.
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