The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Library project merits strong commitment

By Jim Griffith

On April 24th, Sunnyvale's city council voted to move forward on exploring construction of a new main library in the Civic Center area. This project is long overdue. Sunnyvale's library was originally constructed in 1960 as a joint use library and city council chamber. Even with subsequent renovations in 1970 and in the 90s, Sunnyvale has outgrown its library. The children's area is too small. The teen area barely deserves the name. Sunnyvale's IT department is apparently unable to provide WiFi in the library, and the city-wide WiFi signal cannot penetrate the building's brick construction.

On top of this, the size of the collection is limited by the amount of space available for shelves and for administrative handling. The Library of the Future study found the current building to be a mere 43 percent of the amount of the space that Sunnyvale truly needs. We cannot address this shortcoming of patchwork efforts. On the 24th, the council showed its determination to address this and the debate was spirited and blunt, but productive.

This is a major project that deserves serious consideration. The plan involves a large amount of money, a large amount of space, and a long-term community service goal. The cost of a new library will most likely require a bond issue, and bond issue ballot measures require a two-thirds vote to pass.

So the proposal needs to satisfy the entire community if it is to be viable. Deciding to move forward was the first step, and it's the easy one. Moving forward smartly will be the challenge.

The initial challenge is one of logistics. The city must weigh issues such as cost and goals and space to come up with a forward-thinking design. One goal is to make the library green, and council supported such metrics as carbon neutrality and platinum certification. The building must include library space, green space and parking, all within the Civic Center area, with an additional goal of preserving the existing library building for future office space. The city should not casually discard such a valuable asset, particularly when the occupants of the "rabbit hutch" offices will need to be relocated. Finally, the city should find a way to construct a new library while preserving Sunnyvale's commitment to sustainable gardens.

And in the end, all of these concerns must be addressed at a cost the community is willing to bear.

These are serious challenges, but Sunnyvale is capable of solving them. It merely needs the will to do so. The first step is to raise awareness of the problems that Sunnyvale faces. Sunnyvale residents need to start discussing the proposed library. Education proponents need to speak up and emphasize the role that public libraries play in educating youth and supporting our schools. Adults need to talk about the library services they use, in Sunnyvale and in other cities. Supporters of the Community Gardens need to discuss how the gardens provide Sunnyvale with a sense of community, and how a new library in tandem with the gardens can educate the public and promote sustainable gardening. Sunnyvale residents should visit the new San Jose Martin Luther King Jr. and Santa Clara libraries, to get a feel for what services a proper library facility should provide to the public. Civic groups and business leaders should consider what ideas or resources they can contribute to this process. And throughout this, we need a forward-thinking council to continue to make smart and practical decisions.

The city council will next discuss the topic at its June 12 session. Construction of a new library has to be a community effort. It is up to the community to step up, speak up and support what the council has started.

Jim Griffith is a member of the Sunnyvale Future Library Committee.