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Turning Over a New Leaf: Libraries Write Book on Amenities: North Natomas Plans to Build a Facility That Will Include 100 Public Computers.

Posted on: Thursday, 15 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Walter Yost, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Jun. 15--Despite the defeat June 6 of a statewide library measure, new libraries continue to spring up locally, many featuring aesthetically pleasing design and state-of-the art technology.

The disappointment among library supporters throughout the region is countered by library successes elsewhere.

In North Natomas, plans are moving ahead to build a $15 million, 23,000-square-foot library that is expected to hold nearly 138,000 books and more than 100 public computers.

Groundbreaking for the library, once scheduled for this fall, has been pushed ahead to 2007 to allow for more planning, Anne Marie Gold, director of the Sacramento Public Library, said Friday.

The delay also will provide more time to incorporate a $900,000 state grant the Natomas Unified School District is seeking into the library plans.

Sacramento City Council members in May approved an agreement with the school district giving the district the right to provide school library services at the new library for the next 40 years.

The North Natomas library is to be built adjacent to Inderkum High School on Del Paso Road, west of Natomas Boulevard, under a four-party cooperative agreement. The agreement involves the Sacramento Public Library, the city, the school district and the Los Rios Community College District.

The North Natomas Library project received a $7 million grant in November 2004, the last time money from a statewide library bond issue was distributed.

Those dollars had been part of a $350 million state bond issue passed by California voters in 2000.

Library officials are surveying residents of Rio Linda and Elverta about plans to replace Rio Linda's 4,000-square-foot library, described by Gold as one of the smaller facilities in the system.

Books for children and young adults rank first and second among materials respondents want to see in the new library. More computers are third on the list.

Rio Linda and Elverta residents also showed support for a separate children's area, individual and group study areas and a cafe.

While planning is in the very early stages, Gold said the goal is to have a new Rio Linda library in two to three years.

Elsewhere in Sacramento County, residents are anticipating the Sept. 17 debut of the remodeled Carmichael Library, featuring a 5,905-square-foot expansion and a number of amenities that are becoming more commonplace.

"I think the trend is for libraries to be cultural centers," said Veronica Taylor, youth librarian at the El Dorado Hills Library.

Taylor has been in the business long enough -- she worked in San Diego libraries branches for 13 years before coming to El Dorado Hills -- to witness the evolution of modern libraries.

Parents in El Dorado Hills, she said, want their public library to provide activity programs for their children, whether it is a dance academy for preschoolers, an actors workshop for older children or clubs for young teens.

"They're coming in and developing their own programs," Taylor said of library patrons.

Gold, director of the Sacramento Public Library, said the future for libraries in Sacramento "is very exciting."

"I think there is absolutely a resurgence for libraries," Gold said.

Mark Parker, director of library services for Placer County, also noted that the trend of building libraries with comfortable and innovative features is taking hold.

"What we're really seeing now is the presence of a library as a community center," he said. "It's a place where people can come and stay for a while."

Libraries are taking cues from bookstore models and adding good display shelving, comfortable seating, cafes -- all elements meant to entice readers.

"I think that environment has been something we think is a good way to market books and reading," he said, adding that libraries also are adding more programs and technology as a way to draw in patrons of all ages. "We're looking for a much more quality experience."

Proposition 81, which would have provided $600 million in bond money for California library construction and renovation, failed at the polls June 6, losing statewide by 53 percent to 47 percent but winning in Sacramento County by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Gold said she's confident library projects in Elk Grove and Orangevale will continue to move forward, as city and county officials explore other funding options. Both projects were considered prime candidates for Proposition 81 funding.

The Orangevale proposal involves relocating the library to the Orangevale Community Center on Hazel Avenue.

The library would be expanded from 3,300 square feet to 15,000 square feet. The library collection would be boosted to 50,000 items, and the new facility would include general seating for 107, two small rooms for quiet study, separate spaces for children and teens, a community meeting room with a kitchenette and access to 44 computer workstations.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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