In 1957 the Jewish Community Center moved from its original location, a storefront on El Cajon Boulevard and 30th Street in North Park, to 54th Street between El Cajon Boulevard and University Avenue. When he became the director of the new JCC, Joseph Astor moved the Center’s library of 538 volumes to the art gallery and engaged Mollie Harris, a professional librarian, to manage the library. Over the years, she and Joseph Astor developed a Jewish community library at the JCC.

In 1970 the Astor Family provided funds for a library facility which was named the Samuel and Rebecca Astor Judaica Library, in memory of the Astor Family parents. The Astor Family also established a memorial fund for books on Israel, in memory of Tillie Lawrence Omens, mother of M. Larry Lawrence, chief benefactor of the library. The library was dedicated by Dr. Jacob Bronowski and ten years later, in 1980, there were over 5,800 volumes in the library. In that year, the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego first met in the library. The library was the center of Jewish literary life until 1996 when the library was moved to the Lawrence Family JCC in University City. The 54th Street JCC closed in 1998.

Mollie Harris was librarian at the library in the 54th Street JCC, from the early 1960s until 1996. During her tenure as librarian, Harris built the library from a very small collection to almost 20,000 volumes. She initiated and organized an annual Jewish book fair, held regular book reviews with the help of Ida Nasatir, and engaged notable Jewish literary speakers, such as I.B. Singer and Elie Wiesel.