Allied Gardens/Benjamin Branch Library has anchored San Diego's Zion Avenue corridor in Allied Gardens since 1965, when a bequest from book collector Edwin A. Benjamin funded construction of the original branch. The San Diego Public Library system expanded the building in the mid-1980s, adding a community meeting room, a periodical reading area, and an outdoor patio that faces the Waring Road residential district. Community organizations such as Sharia's Closet collaborate with branch staff on resource-sharing events that connect library visitors to local aid networks. Nine public-access computers and free Wi-Fi support job seekers, students, and small-business owners in the 92120 ZIP who need workspace outside the home. The children's section runs weekly storytimes and seasonal LEGO building programs that draw families from Allied Gardens, Grantville, and Del Cerro. The branch's Friends chapter organizes periodic book sales in the meeting room, funding supplemental programming and collection purchases that fall outside the city's annual budget allocation. Allied Gardens sits south of the I-8 corridor and west of Waring Road, a residential pocket where Kaiser Permanente Zion anchors the neighborhood's largest employment site. The library's branch code is BJ within the San Diego Public Library system, which maintains more than five million volumes across 36 locations countywide. Patrons can place holds online and pick up reserved titles at this branch or at the neighboring College-Rolando Branch Library in College Area, depending on which location falls along their commute. The meeting room seats up to 40 and is available for reservation by neighborhood associations, civic groups, and nonprofit boards that need a neutral gathering space off Zion Avenue.