Ready, set, read: Library opens doors
SANTA MONICA BLVD. — Moving can be rough, especially when it means lugging more than 300,000 reading materials that need to be kept in order.
The Santa Monica Main Public Library, supported by bonds and tax money, has its grand opening celebration set for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The bright, two-story, environmentally friendly building, located at 601 Santa Monica Blvd., was designed by local architects Moore Ruble Yudell, recipients of the American Institute of Architect’s 2006 Architecture Firm of the Year Award.
At 104,000 square feet, the new library is substantially bigger than the one it replaced at the same location. While some residents have criticized its “monolithic” facade, those who took a peek inside during a soft opening on Wednesday said the facility made them feel comfortable.
Since construction began on the new library, 80 percent of the collection — or approximately 240,000 reading materials — have been kept in storage. The remainder had been available at the temporary library, located on Fifth Street between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Avenue.
When the old Main Library closed, City Hall hired a moving company. Not only did moving require extensive packing and storage — some 8,000 boxes were involved — but reading materials had to be removed from shelves at the old library, stored or re-shelved, then put back on display at the new facility.
And it all had to be done in an organized fashion, because if not, moving would be that much more difficult.
“You don’t want to mess up a moving a library,” said library director Greg Mullen. “It would be a lot more work putting books on shelves that were out of order.”
To make the move as organized as possible, boxes were labeled according to the shelf location of the books they contained. Reading materials were placed in boxes side by side, and above and below each other in a manner that reflected their placement on book shelves. That allowed staff to place reading materials in their original order at the new library.
The library is capable of housing more than 400,000 reading materials. An average of 30,000 materials are added to the library annually. However, thousands of old materials never make it back to the book shelves for various reasons, so Mullen said he expects it would take years before the new facility reaches capacity.
The $73.9 million project includes expansion already completed at Santa Monica’s other library branches. It is being paid for with $25 million in bond money approved in 1998. The remaining sum has been accrued for years by City Hall through saving funds.
FIRST FLOOR PEEK There’s an underground, three-level parking garage that offers 500 spaces. Rates are $1 per hour. In addition, a rear parking structure offers 30 surface spaces. To keep within an environmentally friendly theme, there are also several bicycle racks.
The building is accessible from three sides, with the main entrance being a ramp on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sixth Street. Entering the library via the ramp, visitors come into an open hallway that runs north and east, split by a 10,000-square-foot “see-through” courtyard accessed from wall-sized sliding-glass doors.
The lobby has lightly-stained hardwood floors and white-washed walls with sections of green and red shades mixed in. The entire facility smells like a new home.
Information desks, easily identified by their lamps, are arranged throughout the building as open cubicles that have swinging computer monitors, allowing for better customer interaction.
On the northwest side of the first floor is the main reference desk, also accessible from the building’s rear and subterranean parking garage through a ramp and elevator.
The west side of the first floor offers adult fiction. To the east are the newer collections of books and magazines where authors are highlighted. The books and magazines are arranged like the main displays at a bookstore, front-faced, intended to attract readers, arranged by category and topic. There are chairs and tables for visitors to read.
To the far east is the children’s area. It’s twice as large as its counterpart at the old facility and has open indoor space for story time and other gatherings.
There’s also a new dedicated area for young adults which offers a row of computers and more desks and chairs for lounging.
On the north side of the first floor is the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium. It will be used for community events and holds 167 people. On Monday, Jan. 16, Yolanda King, the eldest daughter of the civili rights activist, will be the keynote speaker at the celebration to be held in her father’s name at the Soka Gakai International Auditorium, 525 Wilshire Blvd.
The free event will end with a march two blocks to the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium in the new library.
The courtyard features trees and tables where visitors can sit, read, write or enjoy a sandwich and cup of coffee. The cafe, however, has just been approved for construction and is set to open in five to eight weeks.
The courtyard’s centerpiece is a large “Underwater Canopy,” a circular structure hanging 11 feet above the ground. Looking up at it through a series of colorful glass plates is intended to give one the effect of “staring up from the bottom of the ocean,” Mullen said.
The canopy was designed by Santa Monica artist Carl Cheng, intended to be part of the library’s broader oceanside theme. In addition, there’s a small fountain perimeter that surrounds the canopy and cuts through the courtyard.
The water, along with the majority of water used at the facility, trickles to cisterns below the underground parking garage from where it is recycled and reused.
SECOND FLOOR SCENE The face of the library is constructed in two-story “see-through” glass which provides a sense of openness, Mullen said. Looking outside from the second floor is a clear view of Santa Monica Boulevard, and from some vantage points, the ocean. Looking inside the building is more difficult during the day but easier at night. That’s due to the design of the glass, intended to cool and heat the building, Mullen said.
The second floor of the library, accessible by ramp or elevators toward the front entrance, is considered more of the “quiet area” for serious study and research. It houses non-fiction materials along the south and east ends of the building, as well as the 5,000-square-foot Santa Monica Historical Society books and reference collection.
The historical society is still raising funds to lease the library space.
The second floor is where the majority of the library’s 150 computers are stationed, allowing for a variety of Internet research opportunities, Mullen said. There’s Wi-Fi access for laptops, as well as 50 computers in a common area to the northwest that offer unrestricted Internet access.
“We hope the 50 computers will meet demand for Internet use,” Mullen said.
To the northeast are study rooms, a quiet reading area, computer training room, and community meeting rooms.
The Stanton Macdonald-Wright Library Mural series (1934-35), on long-term loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is displayed on the second level. Conservation and reinstallation of the murals is made possible, in part, by a grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment.
GRAND OPENING DETAILS The day-long celebration on Saturday features a ribbon-cutting ceremony; book readings and signings with actors and children’s book authors, Jamie Lee Curtis and Rhea Perlman; interviews with key individuals and community members involved in the library project; and interviews with prominent authors, Sid Fleischman, Ernest Marquez, Carolyn See and Sonya Sones.
There will be activities for children and teens including a teen lounge open house, fiesta, and special appearances by the Swazzle Puppet Theatre, edu-tainer Janeece Flint, and the Animal Guys. The grand opening celebration is followed by special library programs during January and February.
The main library hours are Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call (310) 458-8600, or visit the library’s Web site at www.smpl.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.