Willow Glen Resident
News
Willow Glen library will preserve its charm when it reopens
By Laura Rheinheimer
Willow Glen's library building may be history, but childhood memories and the old oak tree will remain strong as a new branch is constructed.
Community members joined San Jose City Councilman Ken Yeager and Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez on Aug. 12 to celebrate the history of the library, pore over scrapbooks and spend a nostalgic last day before the branch closes for months. The rebuilt library will open in 2008 with more space, books and upgraded technology.
The opportunity to bring more resources to the community is exciting, Chavez said, and she is sure the new building will foster new memories.
Willow Glen resident Mary Salinas brought her daughters Dominique, 2, and Genevieve, 5, and a camera to record the end of an era.
"I used to sit in that rocking chair and read to the kids," said Salinas, pointing to a wooden chair with a worn seat pad.
She will go to the Rose Garden branch during construction, but will miss the coziness of her neighborhood branch.
"It feels like I'm in a big living room," Salinas said.
She hopes the remodeled branch will have the same kind of homey feel.
Chavez said the new library will allow more people to gather, thanks to the passage of a 2002 library bond measure and groups such as the Friends of the Willow Glen Library, who play a vital role. The group currently has $29,000 in library funds, but Friends of the Willow Glen Library co-chairwoman Linda Pedersen said these monies won't last long. The bond measure doesn't cover everything needed for a new library. Library supporters know further fundraising lies ahead.
The $8.4 million project will include an expanded collection of 75,000 volumes in a 13,000-square-foot facility, and will more than double the number of computers and add study and storytelling areas and a community room, along with more seating and parking spaces.
A courtyard in the middle of the building will house the old oak tree, which will be visible from the adult and children's sections of the library.
The final artist's rendering of the exterior has not been completed, but Steve Krong, the lead architect for the Willow Glen branch, said in an email the exterior will have wood siding in order to "artfully blend into its residential context."
The new library really fits Willow Glen, said Clark Williams, a Willow Glen resident who is running for Yeager's city council seat in November.
The community was also heavily involved in the decision-making process. Willow Glen residents who helped plan the new facility insisted on incorporating the tree in the new plan to preserve a piece of library history.
At the first planning meeting for the new library, some residents wanted to save the building, said Yeager. Some asked that a second story or an addition be added, but the turning point was the tree.
"Somebody in the back raised his hand and said, 'I want to save the tree,' and everyone applauded," Yeager said.
The city worked with the architect to include the oak tree in the new design.
"I just love that we can save the tree--it's a heritage tree," said Nancy Ianni, a former San Jose city councilwoman. "I love the old building, but the time has come and the money is here."
A public art piece created by children in 2000 with the help of Willow Glen artist Nina Koepcke will also be preserved and incorporated into the courtyard. Kitty Mason, president of the Willow Glen beautification project, attended some of the planning meetings to ensure the artwork be retained. She acknowledged the time had come to upgrade the aging site.
"It's important to have a new library because the space here is not sufficient," Mason said.
Longtime Willow Glen resident John Herschbach said even though the library has some sentimental value, it's better to rebuild it to accommodate the growing community.
Herschbach and David McKinney, who also grew up in Willow Glen, recalled when the lower part of the building was used as a fire station. "The alarm would go off and scare the hell out of me," Herschbach said.
Community members spent the day looking through scrapbooks and remembering the library's long history.
The library began in 1930, and moved several times before settling in on Minnesota Avenue. In 1935, the library was at 1312 Lincoln Ave. The city took control of the independent library two years later and moved it to its current home in 1949, which it shared with the fire station. When the fire station moved out in 1964, the building was remodeled and the library took over the entire site.
A 1974 fire caused the library to shut down for 11 months while it was rebuilt.
Aphri Jacobsen, a Friends of the Willow Glen Library member, pointed out a picture of herself selling books at a 1988 book sale. She brought her granddaughter to see the building, which she has frequented for the past 42 years.
"It's an adjunct to my home, practically," Jacobsen said.
