City seeks input for new library design

Although ideas and suggestions were discussed, yesterday's meeting was more a preparation for the meetings with the public, which will begin next month.

"The public is the most important part of this because this is the public's library," said Nancy Jalonen, member of the New Library Committee.

"We need more room, most of the time it is very crowded and there is never enough parking," said Eleanor W. Anderson, a longtime patron of the library.

The New Library Committee is hoping to remedy the parking situation with a two-story underground parking structure outside the new library.

Another woman who uses the library several times a month said the library does not have enough books.

"I feel like almost every other book I'm interested in is not here," said San Mateo resident Anna Juhaniewicz. " I would appreciate it if they had more books available."

And there will definitely be more books. With an additional 52,500 square feet, the extra shelf space will provide the room. "We have limited space, we can't fit any more books in here and we have to throw old books away," said Scott Gilbert, who has been working at the library for four years.

The architects are looking to solve all these problems and more while creating a library which can be used for the next 50 years. The architects, from Esherich, Homsey, Dodge and Davis (EHDD) are coming to the project with a clean slate, said Paul Gumbinger, former councilmember and chair of the New Library Committee.

"They have not put pencil to paper yet, so they are open to hear the public input and to hear the community voice," he said.

There will be three meetings between the architects and the public. There will be a session in the morning, during the weekend and in the evening.

"We want to call these listening sessions, we'll give some ideas and present a slide show and then break into small groups," said Jennifer Devlin, project manager from EHDD. "It will be an interactive session. The groups will do presentations so everyone feels comfortable speaking."

The architects and the New Library Committee staff discussed several ideas for developing the new library. City Librarian K.G. Ouye said they are looking to a library recently built in Richmond, British Columbia. "We want to increase the use of automated devices, like an automated book return system," Ouye said. "When people return books, it reads the bar code, sorts the books and puts them in the cart." When the new library opens, staff anticipate when it reopens the library will be two to three times as busy. "By using automated services the staff will be able to handle the work load," she added.

Staff and architects also discussed making a more comfortable environment for the many activities that take place in the library. "The library is a diverse building, and is used in many different ways," said principal architect Ed Rubin. "We want to have areas for quiet reading and group interaction. These means having different kinds of furniture for different situations and different rooms."

The architects also want to make sure the new library will be equipped for new technology, even technology which is not invented yet.

"We need to make the design building flexible enough so the building can accommodate new technology," Rubin said. "We need to make sure what we do with wire technology, won't mess up the wireless technology."

The new library will feature 200 computers, a significant addition to the 25 computers in the current library.

The money to fund the new library will come from a combination of state money, privately-raised money and a $35 million bond measure passed by 72 percent of the voters last November.

Library staff are looking forward to the new library. "Parking and limited space are the main issues," said library worker Anthony Solano. "This library is more reminiscent of a welfare building than a library, other libraries in the county are much nicer."

The three public input meetings are scheduled for Jan. 11 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the YMCA, Jan. 20 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the senior center, and Jan. 24 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Beresford School. Check the library website for more information: www.plsinfo.org or call 522-7802.<