Imagine it! Conference Participating Library Highlights

The Office of Library Construction keeps current on creative developments in planning and designing public library facilities to better provide leadership to public library facility planners in California as we administer the Library Bond Act (proposition 14).

Alameda County Library http://www.aclibrary.org/
Angela Yang, Team Leader
The Alameda County Library has a long history of providing strong, community based services to its cities and unincorporated service areas. While the predominance of 15+ year employees in our library system gives us a continuing and solid connection to our users, like all organizations we are in need of on-going training to create and sustain multi-cultural, multi-lingual services and programs to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse communities, and to nurture and support those of our staff who serve as change agents and role models for their peers and library staff in general, especially while dealing with budget cuts.

Antioch Public Library (Contra Costa County) http://www.contra-costa.lib.ca.us/
Cathy Sanford, Team Leader
The City of Antioch is applying for a 2nd round Prop 14 application and has created an exciting, dynamic project team to oversee the application process; and Wil Bruder Architects, of Phoenix Central Library fame, has created a bold building designed to be the community heart of Antioch. We want to explore forward-looking library service delivery models that directly address the needs of the growing number and diversity of library users and honor the needs assessment process and plan of service process that was undertaken with over 1,000 Antioch participants. Antioch has not had a new library since 1968 and Antioch has committed to the full operational costs for 64 weekly hours of service, 7 days/week and they want a strong, state-of-the-art 21st century library.

Belvedere-Tiburon Library (Marin County) http://www.bel-tib-lib.org/
Deborah Mazzolini, Team Leader
Belvedere, population 2,200 and Tiburon, population 8,800, are located in southern Marin County, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The two abutting communities encompass an area of 4.9 square miles on the Tiburon Peninsula, across the bay from San Francisco.

The Belvedere-Tiburon Library is an independent community library created by the citizens of two adjoining municipalities in southern Marin County who came together in thought, experience, and action to fill a need they both shared.  Years of volunteer time and effort were given by hundreds of people from both communities. The library, which opened its doors in April 1997, is an ongoing study in community building, local values, public spirit, and long-term commitment. There are nearly three hundred volunteers working on twenty community-based committees actively engaged in the library. The library exemplifies the concept of community as a place of shared responsibilities and benefits.

In late 2001 "First a Dream: A Community Builds a Library" was published. This book tells the story of the development of the library. It is written by JoAnn Ridley, illustrated by James Mallott, and published by Vision Books International.

Camarena (Calexico) Memorial Library (Imperial County) http://www.calexico.k12.ca.us/cml/
Sandra Tauler, Team Leader
Calexico is a small border city of about 30,000, in Southern California. We are located 120 miles east of San Diego. Our residents are about 97% Hispanic. This allows for a unique community with needs that always include the use of bilingual sign, forms, and programs. We are primarily an agricultural community, so we also have the migratory segment of the community whose main focus is to follow the crops for economic survival.  This aspect of our service community makes outreach difficult. Our library also, only has one professional librarian on staff, so that the paraprofessionals end up doing a LOT of professional level work (with adequate in-house training). Our library has been the recipient of several grants that have allowed us to acquire videoconferencing equipment and a portable computer lab for staff training. Even though we are small, we try to keep up with technology and training.

City of Calabasas Library (Los Angeles County) http://www.cityofcalabasas.com/departments/library.html
Barbara Lockwood, Team Leader
The Calabasas Library is relatively young, having become an independent city library in 1998. We are small, but growing and will continue to grow as we plan to build a new, permanent library in the next five years. Because we are new we have the opportunity to implement innovative programs and be responsive to our patron's needs. But, we have a small staff and we don't always have the expertise in understanding or applying the latest services and technology.

County of Los Angeles Public Library http://www.colapublib.org/
Shelley Ekeroth, Team Leader
The County of Los Angeles Public Library is completing a new strategic plan for library services for the 21st Century. All library managers and many frontline staff have participated in the process and a real energy and excitement have been "jump-started" in staff after a decade of fiscal challenges. We have many varying facilities and services that we want to tailor to each community.

Daly City Library (San Mateo County) http://www.dalycitylibrary.org/
Carol Simmons, Team Leader
Daly City is a densely populated urban community of over 100,000 residents at the southern tip of San Francisco. More than 60% of our population is ethnically diverse, and includes many recent immigrants for whom our four libraries serve as access to employment, housing, and educational opportunities.  Our new residents and long-time residents include persons from Asia such as China, the Philippines, and Korea, as well as from Latin America such as Brazil, El Salvador, and Mexico. We want to enhance library services to this linguistically and ethnically diverse population by improving our ability to meet their vocational, educational, and recreational information needs. We are in the process of rebuilding one library facility, and in design for two new libraries that will replace two older and out-grown facilities.  The two new libraries will be located in facilities sharing quarters with community outreach and recreation services.

Downey City Library (Los Angeles County) http://www.downey.lib.ca.us/
Thad Phillips, Team Leader
A population increased of 17% since1990, Downey has seen significant demographic shifts during the past 10 years. Now serving a population of 60% Hispanic, 30% White and 8% Asian residents, the library seeks to provide services for adults, young adults and children. Located across the street from Downey High School, the library faces space limitations in meeting the needs of students and independent learners.

Fresno County Public Library http://www.fresnolibrary.org/
Camille Turner, Team Leader
Located in the heart of California's San Joaquin Valley, the Fresno County Library provides collections and services through its Central Resource Library and 34 branches. We are part of the San Joaquin Valley Library System (SJVLS), a cooperative network of 9 public library jurisdictions in the counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, and Tulare.

Our two biggest challenges are:

1) Develop a service delivery plan for the renewal of the sales tax Measure B which is currently set to expire in 2006 and 2) The construction and remodel of a number of branch libraries simultaneously that creates both challenges and opportunities.

The Fresno County Library service area has a high percentage of Spanish language speakers, yet the library usage is low. We cannot reach this population with traditional library methods. In order to respond to this population the library needs to use innovative techniques.

Humboldt County Library http://www.co.humboldt.ca.us/library/
Carolyn Stacey, Team Leader
The Humboldt County Library serves a population of 126,518 and encompasses a geographic area of 3,573 square miles in rural Northern California.  Providing public library service to an area of this size is accomplished through a networked structure of 10 branch libraries, a bookmobile and central library facility. The library is embarking on a strategic planning process to address the future of the county's public libraries.  As part of this process, we will be re-examining our mission, creating a shared vision for library services and exploring alternative funding and partnership opportunities.

Kern County Library http://www.kerncountylibrary.org/
Diane Duquette, Team Leader
Kern County Library, a member of San Joaquin Valley Library System, sits at the most Southern end of the great San Joaquin Valley, serving nearly 700,000 people in a library service area of 8,073 miles, through 24 branch libraries, two bookmobiles, and the Beale Memorial Library main library and headquarters facility in Bakersfield. Geographically rich, Kern County serves its widely and unevenly clustered populations in desert, mountain, river valley, oil and agricultural regions, serving widely divergent educational, socioeconomic, and ethnically diverse citizens.

Kern County Library is interested in enhancing the experience of all our customers at all branches, and in enhancing the future design of our branches.  From its most recent Facilities Master Plan to the Year 2020, the Library needs 31 new facilities totaling over $418 million in needed funding to add nearly 600,000 square feet, more than tripling its current square footage. Given this tremendous need over the next 20 years to serve the anticipated massive infill of California residents into the cities and towns of the San Joaquin Valley, we are especially concerned with “leaving no customer behind” as we design new and innovative service programs to meet the information needs of our least served citizens and enrich the quality of life for all county residents.

Lodi Public Library (San Joaquin County)http://www.lodi.gov/library/
Nancy Martinez, Team Leader
With a population nearing 60,000, the City of Lodi is located 40 miles south of Sacramento in the dynamic growth corridor of the great Central Valley. The Lodi Public Library sits on the edge of the city's ongoing downtown revitalization project. The library wants to contribute to the revitalization and become a downtown "destination" for the residents of Lodi. Indicative of the library as place and space, the first fund raiser established by the Lodi Public Library Foundation is "An Evening at the Library," an elegant dinner served in the library featuring nationally known storytellers entertaining the diners. In 2002 the Lodi Public Library completed a Library Facilities Master Plan that calls for the remodeling of the existing structure and the addition of a two-story wing that will double the size of the building. 

Long Beach Public Library (Los Angeles County) http://www.lbpl.org/
Eleanore Schmidt, Team Leader
The city of Long Beach is currently planning to construct two new libraries to replace outdated and inadequate 1950s buildings. These libraries will be the first new branch libraries constructed in over 30 years and will be the first 21st century libraries in Long Beach. We are less interested in the building per se and more interested in shaping a vision and philosophy of service delivery for our 21st century libraries. A lot is riding on the success of these new libraries. We see them as model libraries for the future and expect that they will be the impetus for all of our neighborhoods wanting a new branch library. With the "me-too" principle at work, the hope is that the public will be supportive of a future local bond measure to construct or renovate libraries throughout the city.

Marin County Free Library http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/LB/main/index.cfm
Gail Haar, Team Leader
Novato is one of the fastest growing areas of Marin County.  Five years ago, in response to increased demand for services in the southern end of the town, MCFL opened a small storefront branch that has developed into one of the busiest in Marin. We now have the exciting opportunity to move this branch into space in a newly renovated and surprisingly beautiful aircraft hanger, part of the Hamilton Air Force Base conversion from military to public use. We expect that usage will continue to expand in the new location since the site is within walking distance of a Senior Housing complex, a Low/Moderate Income complex, almost 1500 housing units, a YMCA, a Community Center, and a growing number of businesses. Our biggest challenges will be financial ones. With no increase in staff and only minimal increase in space we will need to meet the ever-growing expectations of our community. Polling shows a demand for services that range from pre-schoolers to seniors, students of all ages, support for local businesses, literacy training and Spanish language. We know that we will need to think flexibly and creatively to be able to accomplish as much as possible on our budget.

We are in the final stages of a remodel of the circulation area in our main Novato branch and we hope to be able to migrate many of the ideas developed there to this new project. The separate book return room there has hydraulic lifts to eliminate staff lifting and shifting of materials as well as stainless steels counters so that books and delivery bins slide easily. The circulation desk has new ergonomic equipment with in-counter keyboards and fully adjustable monitor lifts. Patrons queue up along a narrow "purse shelf" where they can organize their materials and save time at the counter. The self-check equipment handles both regular and key chain library cards. At our new Hamilton Branch we hope to incorporate these ideas plus build on them where possible.

Mendocino County Library http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/library/mendolib.html
Erika DeMille, Team Leader
The Mendocino County Library and the County Museum want to form a partnership to explore our common resources in order to provide a positive experience for our visitors. Our rural communities are unique from one another and we would like to showcase their contributions to our Mendocino heritage. We envision using traditional tools such as books and displays with storytelling, tribal dancing, and our unique traditional crafts. Logging, train transportation, ocean and stream fishing, and 60's counter-culture enterprises have made unique contributions to our county, and we wish to preserve these attributes.  The Library and Museum would like to partner, to not only preserve, but promote our resources. We have not done so before, even though we are both County Departments.

Menlo Park Public Library (San Mateo County) http://www.menloparklibrary.org/
Susan Holmer, Team Leader
We, the staff at the Menlo Park Public Library, are dreaming of a rebirth of spirit and energy after a long period of dormancy. We think that such spirit and energy will lead directly to a renewal of enthusiasm for the library from our younger, Silicon Valley-bred users; and to a strengthening of political and administrative support from residents and the city staff. We think moreover that the idea of rebuilding the library as a themed experience will help us to realize our dream. Potential themes from our area include the Portola encampment on San Francisquito Creek which serves as Menlo Park's southern city limit. From this encampment, Gaspar de Portolo and his party, accompanied by local Ohlone Indians, journeyed north, ultimately discovering San Francisco Bay a few days later.  The railroad connecting San Francisco with San Jose played a key role in Menlo Park's founding and subsequent growth. Passing next to the library, the train has always been a source of intense interest to children. Also prominent in Menlo Park’s nineteenth century past were the grand estates built by San Francisco's silver and banking barons. Menlo Park is also richly endowed with many bungalow and craftsman-era homes from the early twentieth century.

National City Public Library (San Diego County) http://www.ci.national-city.ca.us
Anne Campbell, Team Leader
National City Public Library is in the process of designing a new 50,000 sq foot building. A local $6million bond and an $11million State Bond grant have provided the funds that will allow the City to construct the library facility that we have dreamed about for over 6 years!

Orange (City) Public Library (Orange County) http://www.cityoforange.org/Library/
Nora Jacob, Team Leader
Orange (City) Public Library is among the 18 public-library recipients of Library Bond Act funding.  Our project -- expansion of our Main Library -- offers exciting service opportunities that we would like to explore.  These include:1) How to integrate our community's commitment to the preservation of local history into the Main Library expansion design, in ways that grab and draw in the library users of today and tomorrow and 2) How to develop spaces and services that most effectively utilize technology AND community gathering AND learning opportunities; and 3) How to develop and strengthen collaborations with community organizations, businesses, schools, and others who have a stake in having a wonderful, imaginative and responsive public library in the community.

Riverside Public Library (Riverside County) http://www.ci.riverside.ca.us/library/
Carolyn Denny, Team Leader
Beginning with the Eastside Cybrary, and now continuing with the soon to be opening Casa Blanca Family Learning Center, the Riverside Public Library has demonstrated its commitment to integrating new technology into existing library services and creating new ones. The award winning Cybrary did this by developing a program in which every Cybrary user was trained to become computer proficient and able to utilize these skills in their schoolwork and careers. The new Casa Blanca site will incorporate new ideas in how the community uses library services by collaborating with Riverside Community College to utilize the site's computer lab as an off-site classroom. We would like to further develop these programs so that patrons will appreciate that the library offers more than just quick answers to simple questions, and that they will realize that the library is also an educational institution in the community. Too many people still feel that libraries simply exist to store books. We would like to change that impression to demonstrate to people that while we are still the community experts on organizing information and making it accessible, we also provide tools and support on how to use that information.

Roseville Public Library (Placer County) http://www.roseville.ca.us/library/library.htm
Dianne Bish, Team Leader
Located in the lovely Sierra foothills between Sacramento and Auburn, Roseville now has a population of approximately 90,000. In recent years, opportunities for employment in a new major retail mall and in new business parks have encouraged many to come live in Roseville.

Roseville has been blessed with tremendous growth combined with good revenues to plan and keep up with that growth� until recently. A citizens' group has been successful in seeing that a major source of revenue (the utility users' tax) must cease, and that has impacted the library's existing and future budgets tremendously. Now, we are also challenged to be innovative when planning for our second branch library, for which another citizens' group is actively lobbying. We have the funds to build the library, but not enough funds to cover the operational costs. Recently, our City Manager challenged us to determine if we could reallocate our resources (including hours of service) to cover the main library, existing branch library, and the proposed branch library, as well as exploring ways to bring in additional funds for the library. We want to really look at our services and collections with an eye to thinking "outside the box" and to fine-tuning the system as a whole, and which in turn could enable us to add the second branch library in the near future.

Sacramento Public Library (Sacramento County) http://www.saclibrary.org/
Alison Landers, Team Leader
The Sacramento Public Library has had a long and enduring history of traditional service models. But the Sacramento community is no longer a traditional one, but rather one that is redefining all its service needs, not just the library, in a uniquely California manner. Time magazine identified Sacramento as the most diverse city in the nation.  Library services need to be reconfigured to meet the needs and expectations of that diverse community.  And library staff, in concert with library community advocates, must lead that change. Examples of the projects that the working group will be involved with are the redesign of Central Express, which is the branch library component within the Central Library, the development of teen and student services and spaces at two new public-school joint use libraries (the new Franklin Community Library and planned North Natomas Library) redeployment of mobile services such as the Wonder Wagon and the development of an e-branch that will become the virtual gateway for an increasing number of our 21st century customers.

Salinas Public Library (Monterey County) http://www.salinas.lib.ca.us/
Julia Orozco, Team Leader
Salinas is struggling to balance the demands of traditional library users with a skyrocketing need for outreach and service to newer, less literate residents. As Salinas is a relatively large, isolated agricultural community, with a low, ever tightening budget, library staff is taxed to seek the latest and most creative practices to provide an acceptable level of services to all users. The Library serves a population that is predominantly Hispanic (64%) and skews young (over one-third of Salinas residents are under 19). There is a small group (6%) claiming Asian descent. Recent development has brought more middle and upper-middle class singles and families into the city, but educational attainment of residents 25 and over is generally low: 27% have less than a 9th grade education, 17% are at the 9th to 12th grade level with no diploma, 19% are high school graduates. Only 4% hold a graduate or professional degree

The role of the public library as an equalizer between these socio-economic extremes becomes critically important. Demand has exploded for literacy programs for adults and families, basic computer training, supplemental education experiences for children. There is also more pressure to provide information and materials through electronic media, including the Internet. The Salinas Public Library has become the community champion of literacy and information access, and is actively combating the old notion of the library as merely a recreational service.

Salinas is not a wealthy community. Its annual per capita library expenditure is only $24 (compared to nearby Monterey at $75, Pacific Grove at $55, Santa Cruz at $41). As a further strain, Salinas' library services are 49% below state guidelines for square footage per capita. Salinas has not added library space in 24 years, during which time the city's population has doubled to 150,000.

The Library Commission and Library Department of the City of Salinas are eager to look well beyond the traditional approaches as they gather information to enhance current library services and support library development. They are searching for ways to incorporate the unique aspects of Salinas and its surrounding (e.g. its library heritage as the birthplace of John Steinbeck and the setting for some of his greatest works, the influence of the Monterey Bay and oceanography, and the role of the Monterey area in California history) into the library and the community's learning experience.

San Bernardino County Library http://www.sbcounty.gov/library/homepage/default.htm
Ed Kieczykowski, Team Leader
The City of Fontana selected RNL Design as architects for a new 86,684 square foot Civic Center Library and Resource Technology Center. It will be the largest branch library in the San Bernardino County system. The goal is to design and build an innovative, functional facility that will address the needs of the community.  Our team is interested in creating a library that will be a destination place to spark children's interest, capture the spirit of young adults and encourage life long learning for all people. The City of Fontana is the fastest growing city in the Inland Empire. It has grown from a small, agricultural community to a population of almost 190,000. The City Manager considers the library to be the cornerstone of the Civic Center complex.

San Francisco Public Library (San Francisco County) http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/
Kathy Lawhun, Team Leader
The Main Library is in the planning stage of redesigning the 1st Floor space.

The Branches are in the planning stage of remodeling (10) or building (4) branch libraries. One of the first steps in starting these projects is looking at your users - who they are, what they want from the library, what is working and what is not in terms of services, procedures, and collections. Some goals are to make users more self-sufficient, streamline circulation procedures, design useable desks, find flexible and appropriate shelving for all types of media and in general make the library and its collections and services more welcoming. SFPL is also working on a new strategic plan with focus groups of staff and community leaders developing a vision for the future that will help all of us involved in the various building projects.

San Luis Obispo City-County Library http://www.slonet.org/vv/slo_library/
Brian Reynolds, Team Leader
San Luis Obispo City-County Library staff are in the midst of a planning process to determine the face and personality of our libraries in the future. This planning process, which began last year with a series of community meetings, will end with a comprehensive strategic approach to funding and maintaining the highest level of library service. We are building one library, remodeling two and reviewing all others for their ease of use and appeal to our customers. We want to get staff out from behind the desks and on to the floor to better serve our customers. We want the public to easily find and get help when needed and to be able to serve themselves whenever possible. We want to increase the awareness of electronic resources that can be used from home and business. We want to energize the workplace for staff and the public.

One of the challenges of the Central Coast is our isolated location compared to major urban areas of the State. We are diverse in population, with pockets of Hispanics in the north and south of the county. This “hidden” population, often employed in support of agriculture and the tourist industry, lives on the fringes of our larger communities and we are looking for ways to better serve them. Another of our challenges is the geographic diversity of our county, both in distances and physical features that often interfere with good telecommunication.

San Mateo Public Library (San Mateo County) http://www.ci.sanmateo.ca.us/dept/library/
Linda Lubovich, Team Leader
We have the exciting task of designing and building a 21st Century Library in San Mateo.  The vision we have for our new library is:

• A state-of-the art resource center for literacy and lifelong learning.
• A source of community pride reflecting our shared investment in free access to knowledge, information and inspiration for all.
• A people place, a destination, inviting, comfortable and accessible; a place for families, community groups, and people of all ages to enjoy and explore.

As we finalize the plans for our new library we are turning our focus towards ensuring that the library offers exceptional and innovative customer service

San Ramon Public Library (Contra Costa County) http://www.contra-costa.lib.ca.us/
Joyce Gunn, Team Leader
When the City of San Ramon incorporated in 1983, the population was 20,300. The current population is 44,460 and is predicted to be 99,000 by 2020. With 11,000 new homes being built, services must be expanded rapidly and be structured for an entirely new population that is rapidly increasing in diversity. We are struggling to find ways to meet their needs with limited resources.

We are planning two new libraries, a small neighborhood library and a large City Center library. The neighborhood library, an 11,600-square-foot library being built by the developer and administered by the city, is scheduled to open in August 2004 in the new housing area.  It is being planned to serve a non-existent population since many of the homes are not yet built. We are planning this library with a focus on services for children and teens, and to provide popular materials for adults. In 5-7 years, the library will be physically joined to the new community college library to be built at that time, and will then be jointly administered by the city, community college and county.

A 50,000-square-foot library, which will replace our outgrown 18,000-square-foot library, is a joint project of the city and the county. This library will be located in the yet-to-be-built City Center, which will also include a children’s museum which shares the library lobby, a performing arts theater, city offices, and retail. It will be the main San Ramon Library and will house deeper collections, special collections including local history and the already existing jazz collection, and more extensive resources for reference, business and other community needs. It will include meeting rooms, study rooms and program areas, and will make extensive use of the latest technology. It will develop services in conjunction with the children's museum and performing arts theater, and must address the changing diversity of the community. It should supplement the neighborhood library, providing deeper resources and services.

Santa Cruz City County Library System http://www.santacruzpl.org/
Wendy Smith, Team Leader
The Santa Cruz City County Library System team is engaged in designing a replacement for its Felton Branch Library, which is located in a deconsecrated 1893 church. The new building will provide neighborhood library services and will also house the staff of the Mountain Community Family Resource Center, which provides human services to San Lorenzo Valley residents. The Team is looking for new ideas for how to serve a diverse and demanding community much attached to its historic building, but reluctantly willing to accept the need for change.

Felton is a rural inland area with railroad, creek & coastal access amidst a redwood forest, population 5350, elevation 286 feet. We have numerous parks for day use, hiking and camping, one of the tallest historic covered bridges in the country and a narrow gauge railroad that winds through the redwoods giving tours and a standard gauge that runs a train down the mountain to the ocean and back. The community includes people from many walks of life: seniors, baby boomers, families, home schoolers, college students, activists, etc. There are numerous schools in the area, and we do a busy after school business.

Our current facility is charming and on the historical register but is filled to capacity and lacks some basic modern conveniences such as a separate staff bathroom, staff workspace, air conditioning, etc. Finding adequate room for our materials is an ongoing challenge, necessitating constant weeding and rearranging.

Santa Maria Public Library (Santa Barbara County) http://www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us/210.html
Francisco Pinneli, Team Leader
Santa Maria Public Library recently received a Proposition 14 new construction grant, one of eighteen in the state. We have the opportunity to build a new 61,000 square foot Main Library that will meet the needs of our growing population for years to come. The time to plan for the future is now and we need to do it right. The grant application required a community needs assessment and a plan of service. Staff, with community input, identified key planning elements (both facility and service) and created a solid foundation to build on.  Sharing ideas and learning from others would increase our expertise. This conference's lively discussion would better prepare us to understand upcoming trends, different customer service techniques, marketing and other ideas for providing quality services in a new library environment. Santa Maria's diverse population (60% Hispanic) requires staff to redefine services in innovative ways and to approach service delivery with non-traditional methods. Further energizing staff and providing them with tools for managing change would also be very beneficial. Our goal is to plan innovatively today so that we can seamlessly and flexibly be prepared to provide exceptional customer service in a beautiful new facility that will be relevant and effective for the next 60 years.

Shasta County Library http://www.shastacountylibrary.org/
Carolyn J. Chambers, Team Leader
Shasta County has a population that is geographically dispersed and diverse. Housing prices, economic vitality, and quality of life are magnets that continue to attract "urban refugees" - young families and older adults from other areas. The population is anticipated to increase another 40% over the next 20 years. Growth is challenging community values and priorities and community expectations have risen as the area has expanded.

The most pressing overall library service need is the creation of a library that matches community needs. Twenty years of severely reduced operating funds have robbed the library of its vitality and usefulness to many community members. Efforts are underway to build a new central library in Redding. These efforts have boosted the presence of library in our community. The assessment of needs conducted as part of the library bond act grant application process brought realization that the community’s expectations for library services are growing and changing along with the growth and change in the community. There is hope that a new central library will provide the momentum necessary to rejuvenate the library system and provide an opportunity to proactively respond to the community's needs. We have a community that is in danger of losing a frame of reference for the role a library can play in its life and we want to plan a library with services that will be a quality, state-of-the art resource for all of our citizens.

Solano County Library http://solanolibrary.com/
Ann Cousineau, Team Leader
Our library is currently involved in 3 building projects and has 2 more waiting in the wings. In order to operate them, we have started changing the way we do business, using technology to streamline functions such as circulation. Our customers like the convenience of checking out their own materials, picking up their own holds and reserving/renewing online. We want them to always have a great experience at the library. At the same time, we want the staff to be involved in creating that experience so they take ownership of it. They need to be challenged and enjoy what they are doing in this ever-changing environment. This conference affords us an opportunity to listen and participate in an exciting think-tank environment so we can focus on what will work for us and plan for the future - virtually impossible during the day-to-day running of the library. Leaders need to stay energized to be effective.

Sonoma County Library http://www.sonoma.lib.ca.us/
Patti Lewis, Team Leader
Sonoma County Library is currently developing a 20-year countywide facilities master plan. The plan will emphasize services to young people, services to seniors, and innovative service delivery methods and environments.

South San Francisco Public Library (San Mateo County) http://www.ssflibrary.org/
Valerie Sommer, Team Leader
South San Francisco, a community in transition, is located on the west shore of the San Francisco Bay, in northern San Mateo County, 10 miles south of San Francisco and 30 miles north of Silicon Valley. The City has been making a slow industrial transformation for the past 30 years. Its steel production and other heavy industries have largely been replaced by research and development and biotechnology. The City once known as the Industrial City is now called the Biotech Capital of the World. Like the City's industry, our population is in transition. The City's Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic populations have grown rapidly in recent years. Twenty-eight percent of South San Francisco's 61,000 residents are Asian/Pacific Islander, 32 percent are Latino, 35 percent are Caucasian, and about 3 percent are African American.

South San Francisco Public Library is in its 87^th year of continuous library service. We have three facilities - a main library, a branch library and a Community Learning Center that offers ESL classes, computer classes, a homework club and additional lifelong literacy programs. We are a member of the Peninsula Library System and share an online catalog and online services with all of the public and community college libraries in San Mateo County. The Library is funded by the City of South San Francisco’s general fund and we are facing budget cuts that will affect library services. Two major challenges we face due to budget cuts are the reduction of library service hours, collections and programs at a time when library use is rising, and reductions in State and local partners’ support for Project Read, our adult literacy program.

The Community Learning Center is an innovative service of the library that serves "Old Town" population, comprised of predominantly Latino immigrants challenged by social, economic and educational needs. The Center opened in January 1999 after a planning process that included community meetings, a door-to-door survey and the assistance of community members and community-based organizations. The vision of the Learning Center is to bring community members together in a place where people of all ages can learn and teach each other. The Center offers an alternative learning environment where people can enhance their basic skills, increase their English fluency, learn work related skills and access parenting resources. Learning activities are offer through small classes, individualized tutoring, homework assistance, computer lab, leadership development, specialized services and family programs. Learning Center programs are funded by Foundation, federal and local grants and collaborations with local agencies, organizations and schools. Last year, the Community Learning Center won the won top honors in the "children succeed in school" category of the San Mateo County Children's Report Initiative Recognition Awards as well as the San Mateo County Reading Association's Celebrate Literacy Award.

Sutter County Library http://www.co.sutter.ca.us/index.aspx?doc=/depts/library/library.xml
Roxanna Parker, Team Leader
Sutter County Library is a "teaching" library. We develop programs and curriculum for different interests and age groups just as teachers develop lesson plans and study units for their classrooms. We pride ourselves on not only being a means of life long learning for this community, but also being a catalyst for helping those first light bulbs to go on! The subject is not important; it's the process and learning to love learning that counts.

The Sutter County Director of Library Services firmly believes that libraries are too expensive today to be simply warehouses of books, and that library staff cannot sit back and feel that they are exempt from the service demands and pressures felt by local business establishments every day. If we are going to be a part of our community, we have to be active and earn our keep!  It is our responsibility to provide library collections, yes, but we need to also provide programs and an environment of learning experiences that actively engage our patrons - of all ages - one that intrigues them, delights them, broadens their horizons and enriches their worlds. Even on a shoestring budget, we have to create an environment where we have people walking in the door thinking "That's interesting" and "I like that" regularly asking "What's new?" and "What's next?" and "When will you do this again?" and then coming back for more. In the past three years Sutter County Library has gone from one automated Main Library with 3 public access computers, to five libraries (Main Library + 4 branches) automated on a shared ILS system with a total of 106 computers.  We are online!

Watsonville Public Library (Santa Cruz County) http://www.watsonville.lib.ca.us/
Deborah Barrow, Team Leader
Watsonville is designing a new 200,000 square foot mixed-use building with a 50,000 square foot main library. This will replace the 17,000 s/f library that has served as an educational, cultural and social hub since 1976. Things have been changing in Watsonville. The population has more than doubled since the 1980 census. Over 75% of the population is Latino, 37.5% are 19 or younger, 14% are over 54. The job market is expanding beyond agriculture which represents nearly 18% of industry at this time. The library is an important component in answering the challenges in this geographically isolated city. We would like to build the very best library possible emphasizing the library experience for youth, seniors and ag workers, particularly. The new, mixed-use building also will house City Administration, County courts, retail and office space.