New North Branch Library opens doors

The North Branch Library. Photo

The new North Branch Library, nine years in the making, was unveiled Tuesday afternoon.

The 12,600 square-foot “green” certified library on the corner of Artesia Boulevard and Green Avenue has been a longtime labor of love for a passionate segment of the community including volunteers from the Redondo Beach Library Foundation, past and current City Council members, and city staff.

But as Mayor Mike Gin said at the opening ceremony, it was a building that might very easily have never been built. Supporters were discouraged at various points when state funds earmarked for libraries did not materialize. But instead of giving up, volunteers and city staff redoubled efforts.

“It’s a dream all of you never let go of,” Gin told a gathering of more than 150 people.

“Tenacity is the word I’m thinking about,” said Councilman Matt Kilroy. “The nine years that the community worked to make this happen.”

The foundation, in particular, played a key role in the creation of the new library. Former city councilwoman and foundation president Marilyn White – who passed away months before the building’s groundbreaking ceremonies in early 2009 – worked ardently to keep the dream alive. The foundation pledged $1.2 million to the library and has thus far contributed $800,000.

“If it were not for the foundation, we would not be here today,” Gin said.

The city, despite its own financial difficulties, has been able to piece together the remainder of the funds. It has been aided by the upside of a down economy – a soft construction market that has helped bring the building’s original $4.7 million dollar budget in at somewhere around $4 million.

“This is our only bright spot in a troubled time,” said Councilman Pat Aust.

Councilman Steve Diels, in whose district the library is located, also spoke of the numerous people who worked on behalf of the library

“This is revitalization,” he said. “This is what happens when a community comes together.”

Current Library Foundation president Rebecca Sargent, who was recruited to the effort by White, strongly praised volunteers as well as the city’s library director, Jean Scully, and City Manager Bill Workman.

“He said he would get it done,” Sargent said.

The building represents a vast upgrade to the former 3,663 square-foot library, which was located at the same site. It seats 105 people, versus the former library’s 44, and includes three American Disabilities Act compliant restrooms compared to none in the old building. The roof, which used to leak, is now not only airtight but constructed to help direct rainwater into a basin surrounding the building and prevent ocean runoff. The new library utilizes ample natural light, and its double-paned Artesia-facing windows help create quiet tranquility inside.

The old library, which didn’t have air-conditioning, was frequently loud, especially during hot days when windows were open for air flow. Senior engineer Mike Shay said he was a little nervous as piece by piece was installed along the building’s street frontage and the sound didn’t seem to be dissipating. Finally, when the final piece was installed, silence fell inside the building.

“Wow,” he remembered thinking. “This is really quiet…The design really is ideal.”

It’s a starkly modern design that contains few right angles and a wide open room that allows librarians to oversee the entire library from the front desk. Shay also noted that the building is the city’s very first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified project. Its many green features include energy efficient lights, 18 bike racks and a shower for employees (to encourage bike transit), low flow toilets, the use of recycled materials and a 95 percent construction diversion rate, and drought-tolerant landscaping.

“We wanted it to be as green as it could be,” Gin said.

John Parsons, who worked on behalf of the project both as a former city councilman and as a Library Foundation board member, recalled that during the 1990s recession there had been talk of closing the entire facility down. He said that fact that so many people stood up to champion the new facility spoke to the community’s values. Sixty-six percent of the city’s children aged 5 to 18 live in North Redondo.

Benjamen and Dale Kaplan were the first people to check out a book at the new North Branch Library. Photo

“I know when I was a kid the library was really important,” Parsons said. “My mom raised four kids all on her own and dropped us off at the library when she went shopping. We’d bring homework with us, do research – you know, it was important for families, for individuals, creating future work skills and setting what the community stands for when you provide these kinds of assets for the community as a whole.”

“We are opening up this building, and opening up their minds, and their lives,” Aust said.

All the current councilmen shared books that had made a difference in their lives. Diels chose John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row; Councilman Bill Brand chose J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit; Aust, a former fire chief, chose Report from Fire Engine Company 82; Councilman Steve Aspel chose veterinarian James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small (“Ever since I read this book…I can’t even smash a spider”); Kilroy chose Troy Nesbit’s Mystery at Rustler’s Fort; and Mayor Gin actually brought a tattered copy of Music Lessons Have Begun by Leila Fletcher.

Workman had another positive library memory – meeting his wife in the college library. “Yes, we did kiss behind the stacks, when she was on duty,” he said.

Shortly before the doors were finally opened, Library Commission chair Suzy Seymour quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, “In the library, you are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends.”

“So as you go to the library,” Seymour added, “meet some new friends

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