Portola Valley: Task force floats idea of using Historic Schoolhouse as library Portola Valley: Task force floats idea of using Historic Schoolhouse as library (April 27, 2005)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

Shelves of library books may soon change the ambience of Portola Valley's Historic Schoolhouse, the one-room meeting hall that now has a nine-person oak dais at one end and padded seating for about 100.

Turning the Historic Schoolhouse into a temporary library and asking the council to "scrunch up" on metal chairs at a metal table was one idea discussed at an April 19 meeting of a new library task force, said Steve Toben, a councilman and task force member.

The current library, part of a 1950s-era former elementary school that sits astride an earthquake fault, is vulnerable to collapse in a major quake, according to a recent structural engineering report. The schoolhouse is well away from the fault and considered safe.

At a recent Town Council meeting, Victoria L. Johnson, the director of the county library system, announced her decision to close the library building June 1 and disperse its functions to other locations.

Using the Historic Schoolhouse as a library "is a very reasonable idea. I think that's right. I think that's fine," said Mr. Toben in an interview, noting a sentiment on the library task force that the town's deliberative bodies should share the town's pain of doing without a library for two years.

The Historic Schoolhouse has been the replacement venue of choice for children's story time and the town's monthly film series. Having it also function as a library is new.

The negative findings in the engineering report are lending urgency to the effort, said Ms. Johnson. In a letter, she proposed alternatives such as books by mail, bookmobile visits and extended hours at Woodside library.

Such ideas were welcome to the task force but insufficient, said Mr. Toben. "There was certainly a strong desire to have a place where certain library functions could be preserved," he said, referring to shelved books that can be browsed and checked out.

"The library is the heart of the town," said Lenora Ferro of the group Friends of the Library. "It's where civic life gets played out."

The group is seeking residents' opinions on essential library services and hoping for generous donors to offer space, said Ms. Ferro.

A new library is part of Phase 1 in a three-phase multi-year plan to create a new building complex and playing fields at the 11.2-acre Town Center at a cost of about $15 million. The library could open in September 2007.

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