The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Bianca Allen carted books to their new homes in preparation for the reopening of the library.

New, improved library ready to open

By Justin Berton

Fiction is gray, nonfiction is blue, and the children's section will be purple.

The new color-coded signs are just one of the many changes Sunnvyale residents will notice once they step inside the newly refurbished library, which opened yesterday after a summer-long shutdown.

The nine-week, $2.2. million renovation included the installation of three miles worth of Internet wiring, 150 new chairs and tables, 60 new personal computers and new carpets. The library also hired 62 volunteer technology tutors to assist newbies with Web-searching skills.

Workers ripped down a few brick walls and lowered the bookshelves to give the library a larger, more open-air feel.

"We've opened up the sightlines and brought in the natural light," Victoria Johnson, Sunnyvale's director of libraries, said.

Shutting the library down for the summer was not an easy decision for city officials last year. The library serves approximately 2,000 people per day and circulates 1.3 million items per year, Johnson said.

Initially, city officials hoped to keep the library open as workers took on the project in phases. But after the discovery of large amounts of asbestos beneath the carpets, officials decided a total shutdown was the best solution.

In the crush to check out books before the library locked its doors for the summer, users checked out a record 119,000 items in June. Johnson is optimistic residents will return the books--which equals more than one third of the library's stock--to fill up the new shelves.

"We are expecting quite a flood of materials in the next few weeks," Johnson said.

With all the changes, some old-time library users may be disorientated by the new layout. Where the periodical section once resided is now the expanded teens section. Johnson said teens are some of the most frequent users of the library, since school research projects tend to keep them busy.

The expanded teens section will carry more titles and include more computers with Internet access.

One thing new visitors are sure to notice this week are the stocked racks of videocassettes and music CDs. The library did not rent out the items before the summer shutdown, and for the time being, the cream of the crop remains.

"For a few days, I think some people are going to be thrilled," Johnson said.

To guide the expected scores of visitors through the spacious new library, a color-coded map at the main entrance.

"The visual cues will help make users self-sufficient," Johnson said. "It shouldn't be a mystery how to get around a library."

The public is invited to attend a grand-opening ceremony outside the library Sept. 19 at 10 a.m.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 9, 1998.
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