Year of Firsts: Can we build a better library?

In this economy, and in this era of the Internet, it’s nice to see a library that hasn’t taken the plunge of the daily newspaper and nearly vanished from the community.
People of all ages pack into the 5,300-square-foot Scotts Valley Library whenever it’s open.
Last Monday afternoon, I counted a dozen knitters crowded elbow-to-elbow into a corner next to tables of tutors, students, researchers, job-seekers and laptop-users. Spare seats were a hot commodity.
Not only that, Scotts Valley plans to more than double the size of its library by 2011. This is a first for me, and maybe a first for a lot of other people as well.
The public library has become the nerve center of our community, a place where intellectuals coexist with the more practical-minded, the crafts-minded, the political-minded. In short, virtually all of us.
Of course, this part of a building, tucked behind Nob Hill Foods in the Kings Village Shopping Center, was never meant to house the town’s library for all time. Several years ago, the city proposed building a landmark library at the top of a village green in the Town Center. The city started the year with more than $2.7 million in redevelopment money, accumulated over almost 20 years, along with developer fees, all earmarked for a library.
But the Town Center, Scotts Valley’s long-awaited commercial-residential development, met with some roadblocks, thanks to the sputtering economy, and the new library was suspended like a book on a high shelf.
Then, last spring, the Scotts Valley Sports and Event Center was put up for sale, and city leaders figured the 22,600-square-foot skating rink could be converted into a book barn. They decided they could remodel a little over half of it for the library and lease the rest to a commercial business.
The city floated some bonds, paid $4.5 million for the building, hired an architect for $500,000 and made plans to spend another $3.5 million for improvements. That $8.5 million sounds like plenty of money to create space for children, knitters and Marian the Librarians. But when you think about it, it’s not enough.
Scotts Valley doesn’t have enough money to create a facade like one of the fabled Carnegie libraries. Our library will still look a lot like a concrete-block warehouse. And it’s unlikely that Santa Cruz County’s budget for staffing, technology and the ever-important collection of books and DVDs and other materials will grow fast enough to fill the cavernous space.
So that leaves me with a thought that I’ll climb out on a ledge to say here: Is there more we can do to turn this old skating rink into a welcoming library, with high-tech materials and low-tech books? Can we seek private funds and grants? Can we include a coffee shop to add ambiance, as other libraries have done? Can we include an online section of things like auto repair manuals, as other libraries have done so successfully? Would we consider partnering with a business to build an outside patio and clad the concrete blocks with sandstone?
Wouldn’t it be nice to know we could crowd a converted skating rink with local readers of every age and background far into the future?
I think a town that’s ready to double the size of its library is a place where that can begin to happen.
Book-lover alert
Speaking of books, are there many book-club lovers out there? I’m thinking of forming one on behalf of the Press-Banner.
I’d love to hear what you think. What kind of books would you like to discuss? Who would you like to talk about them with? When would you like to do it?
If you post your responses in the comments section under this story, we’ll get the discussion going!
Hair-raising response
In my last column, I asked for hairdresser suggestions and was inundated with more than 50 e-mails and phone calls. A woman dropped off shampoo and conditioner for me, and a man asked if I’d send him my findings so he could score points with his wife.
So now I need to bite the bullet, pare down the list — eeny, meeny, miney, moe — and make an appointment.
Thank you to all who responded. You’ve truly made me feel at home.
• Year of Firsts is an occasional column by Cheri O’Neil Matthews, publisher of the Press-Banner, who recently moved to Scotts Valley. She’s been a journalist for more than 30 years and serves on the board of the California Press Association. Reach her at [email protected] or 831-334-6300.