Scotts Valley City Council members and library officials donned hard hats and smiles over the weekend as work on the city’s new library officially began.
The grand opening is expected in May.
Plans have steadily moved forward since the city bought the 23,000-square-foot Scotts Valley Sports Center in summer 2009 for $4.5 million, with designs to use about 13,000 square feet for the library and the rest for retail stores.
County library director Theresa Landers told the crowd of about 40 at the ceremony that the entire city benefits from a library.
“Libraries serve everyone from the seniors to the youth in the community,” Landers said. “With this facility, we will have better service, with 21st-century library practices. The library will be three times the size of the old library, with the same number of staff.”
The project’s $7 million price tag will be paid with nearly $5 million in borrowed bond money and another $2.7 million the city has saved from its redevelopment money and developer fees. Since 1990, Scotts Valley has set aside about $330,000 in fees each year specifically for a library.
Edith Baldwin, a Los Gatos resident who owns land in Scotts Valley, said she visits the Scotts Valley Branch Library frequently and is excited at the prospect of a new one.
“It’s a wonderful idea,” Baldwin said. “Scotts Valley has needed a new library.”
Scotts Valley’s chapter of the Friends of the Library is trying to raise $250,000 in its capital campaign to furnish the library. So far, the group has about $109,000.
Besides accepting donations, the Friends are selling commemorative tiles that will pave the library’s entry. The engraved bricks cost $50 to $250 each. The group is also accepting sponsorships that give a donor the right to name an area of the library.
Elizabeth Walch, president of Scotts Valley’s Friends of the Library, said she has been delighted to see people get involved with the new branch.
“I was excited that the community showed up,” she said. “Community ownership is really important.”
At a glance
As work begins on the new Scotts Valley Branch Library on Kings Village Road, folks should keep the following dates in mind:
**Aug. 25: Deadline for gifts to be matched by an anonymous donor who has offered to match as much as $25,000 in donations.
**Sept. 8: Friends of the Library meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Scotts Valley Branch Library, 230-D Mount Hermon Road
**Sept. 11: Second library auction and barbecue, with the theme “A tropical tale,” at
5:30 p.m. at Scotts Valley Community Center. Donations before Sept. 4 will be mentioned in the program for the night.
**Oct. 31: Deadline to buy a library entryway commemorative tile at www.fsvpl.org.
**For information: fr*******************@gm***.com
