Gilroy’s library may only have been closed for a little more
than two months, but local Librarian Lani Yoshimura said many
people told her that was too long.
Gilroy’s library may only have been closed for a little more than two months, but local Librarian Lani Yoshimura said many people told her that was too long.
“A lot of patrons could hardly wait,” she said last week. “Some of them were literally crying, saying, ‘I wanna come home.'”
On Tuesday, they got their wish as the new interim, 9,388-square-foot library opened at 7652 Monterey St. Residents were lined up to enter the library when it opened at 1 p.m., and about 500 patrons came within the first two hours. Patrons said they were happy to see the new edifice.
“It’s good,” Gilroyan and library regular Abbey Zandjany said. “Good layout. Good design. Good paint.”
Gilroy High School sophomore Jennifer Huicochea said she had been awaiting Tuesday’s opening as she regularly uses the library for its computers. She found out about the opening by checking online, she said.
Meanwhile, demolition of the old, leaky 12,500-square-foot facility at 7387 Rosanna St. could begin as soon as April, City Administrator Tom Haglund said. Construction on a 53,500-square-foot, two-story permanent facility is slated to take place this summer, with a possible opening in early fall 2012, Yoshimura said.
The temporary building, owned by Gary and June Walton and leased by the City of Gilroy, will house the library until then. The City Council authorized a $336,874 lease payment in November to the Waltons to use the building.
Library staffers transported almost 120,000 items to the new building, although some of the books remain in storage, Yoshimura said. She said it was helpful that library patrons were able to check out so many items, adding that the due date for items checked out before the old library’s Dec. 2 closing has been extended to March 2.
The temporary building is much smaller than the old library, and it does not have a meeting room or storage space, Yoshimura said. The temporary library also doesn’t have space for Friends of the Library book sales. However, it does include a story room and, despite the smaller size, she appeared ecstatic about the downtown structure.
“This is the nicest temporary facility I have ever seen in this area,” she said.
Several library staffers were busy installing radio-frequency identification tags in books, which will allow stacks of books to be self-scanned at once. The technology should be available at the local branch within a few months, Yoshimura said.
Even without that capability in place, staffers seemed overjoyed to have the library operational again.
“We’re so happy,” library Clerk Yolanda Provencio said. “It took so long to move in here.”
Construction workers were completing last-minute details this week, including touching up the parking lot Tuesday.
Yoshimura gave kudos to Gary Walton and to construction crews.
“They are the dream team as far as I’m concerned,” she said.
Walton said last week that the building, which most recently housed Gilroy’s Garlic City Auction gallery and Robert Guererro’s boxing gym – and was once home to Fairway and Safeway – was rebuilt and brought up to code in the past three to four months, he said.
Walton described the golden hue of the building’s exterior as a “happy color” and the light green and salmon shades inside the building as “calming colors.”
Walton, who owns several downtown properties and has been a major advocate for the downtown’s rebirth, was happy with the new location. Most civic buildings were traditionally in the downtown, and he’s happy to see a step back in that direction, he said.
“This brings foot traffic downtown, which is good,” he said.
Meanwhile, the city has yet to award demolition bids for the project, Haglund said. Demolition takes time, including planning for environmental impacts among other details, he said. It is more than just knocking down a building with a wrecking ball, he said.
“I think (the demolition) is proceeding on about as precise a schedule as it can,” Haglund said.
Construction of the new library is being funded by a $37 million bond passed by voters in November 2008. That money includes demolition costs and money for the interim site.
About 1,300 Gilroyans patronized the Morgan Hill Library during the past couple of months, and Yoshimura wondered at first if some of the people who lived in the area surrounding the Rosanna Street library building wouldn’t make the effort to get to the new library, she said. Yet she had seen many of them scoping out the building while it was under construction.
On the plus side, the interim location may attract a new crowd of patrons.
Gilroyan Jesus Becerra, who happened to see the library was open Tuesday while driving by, noticed that it was close to east Gilroy and was in walking distance for children who live there.
“I live in this neighborhood, so it’s nice,” he said.
In addition, downtown merchants may benefit. That includes the new Garlic City Books, which opened at Monterey and Fifth streets on Friday. The store, which specializes in used books, plans to begin serving coffee and ice cream within a few weeks.
Brad Jones, owner of Garlic City Books, said some children have even mistaken the book store for the new library. He planned to contact schools to ask them if they would want to take children on field trips to both the bookstore and the library to explain the differences.
“There’s a reading renaissance right now,” he said.
Yoshimura is pleased with the temporary location and that people will be able to walk from the library to coffee houses and eating areas.
“It’s wonderful to be a part of the revival of the downtown,” Yoshimura said.
