Build library first at Town Center Build library first at Town Center (June 09, 2004)

By Lenora Ferro and Karen Fisher

We would like to alert the citizens of Portola Valley, and all patrons of the Portola Valley Library, that the charrette process for the new town campus begins June 10.

The library and the town need your input. As the advocacy group for the library, we have communicated to the Town Council our main concerns: that the library be the first building rebuilt and that space for the library be expanded.

The Town Council is convinced that for safety reasons, the campus buildings must be razed and a new campus located in a different corner of the present 11-acre plot of land. The library, which hosts nearly 60,000 visitors a year, puts more people at risk than any other facility on the present campus. It also receives a wider variety of visitors than any other facility: infants to the elderly, literate and illiterate, readers and computer users, tutors and tutees.

Moreover, the difficulty of housing the library collections and functions, and opening its doors to 1,300 visitors per week, renders a temporary modular facility unworkable. Clearly, the library must be the first building rebuilt.

Our current space, 3,700 square feet, was cobbled together by joining two classrooms. Fiction (adult, juvenile, easy-readers and picture books) is all in one room. The second room houses adult and children's non-fiction, the "quiet" reading area, the program area (for childrens' story-time or visiting authors for adults), and the business, consumer and reference areas. Middle school tutoring also takes place in this area.

The two rooms are joined by a hall, which serves as the circulation area, houses the compact disc collection, and is where the computers for public use are situated. To accommodate present-day use as well as the town's evolving library needs, we have asked that the interior square footage be doubled, and that the outdoor patio be expanded.

Our leaders 30 years ago were bent on establishing a library and today the Portola Valley Library is by far the most visited, public facility on the town campus. Inclusion of a library in the town campus was important to 95 percent of the respondents in a recent Portola Valley survey.

Our legacy is rich with examples of the Town Council, Friends of the Library, and town residents all collaborating for the benefit of the library. Please join us at the charrette process, which kicks off at 7 p.m. on June 10, in the Town Center Multi-Use Room to advocate strongly for a library that this town needs and deserves for the next 50 years.

Lenora Ferro and Karen Fisher are co-presidents of Friends of the Portola Valley Library. ?

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