Long Awaited Library Renovation Moves
Into High Gear This Week
Carolanne Sudderth
Mirror Staff Writer
In last fall’s
municipal election, Proposition L asked voters to approve a library
expansion. The campaign slogan was, “It’s long overdue.” The
electorate roared its approval, approving Prop L with
an 81% majority.
The slogan was more than a play on words, as the need
to expand, update and modernize the library’s resources has been on
the table since 1988.
A general obligation bond, Proposition L provides $25
million for the three-phase project. The first phase will make interim
improvements in the Main Library. The second will upgrade the three
branch libraries, and the third will add 50,000 square feet to the
Main Library.
The first phase began in June and is expected to take
six months. Until this week, the library has remained open, but it’ll
close tomorrow, Thursday, to complete those portions of the renovation
that cannot be accomplished when the library is operating. It’ll
reopen at the end of August.
Plans include
the re-carpeting of the entire building, modifications to the entry
lobby and reference desk areas, new public conference rooms, the
relocation of the online catalog, CD-ROM and Internet stations, new
display shelving and additions to and relocations of some of the book
stacks. The technology infrastructure will also be upgraded to permit
greater use of electronic information resources.
Killefer, Flamming and Purtill, Architects, are
drawing up plans for the second phase. A multi-purpose meeting room
will be added to Montana, the only branch without one now, and
facilities upgraded in all three locations -- Montana, Fairview and
Ocean Park. Technology centers designed especially for children will
be installed in all three branches
Principal Librarian Susan Annett underscored the focus
on youth. “They’ll have a homework slant, but could also be used
by parents wanting to work with their kids on other projects.”
The third phase, the 50,000 square-foot expansion of
the main library, will probably not begin for several years, Annett
said. Plans are still in the formative stages. An architect has yet to
be chosen, and staff and librarians are still collecting input from
focus groups.
Based on conceptual models that have been presented,
the new building will take up almost all of the existing parking lot,
so an underground garage will be built.
Tentative plans for the building include a large youth
services area, more meeting areas, and probably a smaller meeting room
that will accommodate groups of 75-100 people, as well as more books,
more computers, more seating, and an enlarged, enhanced reference
area.
“And just better configuration of the stacks so that
people can find things.” Annett said, pointing to the 900-shelves
and then at the rest of the non-fiction on the other side of the
library. “One really important thing is that we hope to have all the
non-fiction together in one continuous stack.”
Annett’s own wish list includes a small coffee bar
and a gift shop and a courtyard auditorium that could be shut off from
the main library. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have poetry or
Shakespearean readings in an open area outside?”
It could double as a crafts area for kids. “It’s
easier to clean paint when you can hose it off,” Annett said.
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