Dec 5, 2006

Youth lobby for library expansion

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

A pajama-clad, youthful group of Palo Alto residents spoke out Monday night in favor of expanding a library whose services are already overwhelmed by demand from children.

At the City Council's packed study session on the expansion of Mitchell Park Library, every one of the dozens of residents who commented during the public hearing urged the council to increase books and space at the cramped branch library in South Palo Alto.

"I think it's a little bit too small now. It only has the book I want 55 percent of the time," said Megan Kuhnle, 9.

Most residents stressed the need for a larger collection and more space. One young resident worried that within three years, he might be done reading all of the library's books.

Library consultant Kathy Page stressed in her presentation that while the population and service demands on the library network have grown, the amount of available space has not increased accordingly.

"Mitchell Park is severely undersized," Page said, noting that the southern branch is only half the size of Main Library, though its circulation is broader. Almost half of the city's residents live in Mitchell Park's service area. Children's materials account for over half of the library's circulation.

Page's recommendations included expanding the number of books and computers, doubling the library's seating and roughly tripling the library's size to between 28,000 and 33,000 square feet.

Dawn Merkes, project manager for Group 4 Architecture, presented the three options her design firm created for the library's expansion.

A simple addition to the existing library would require expensive underground parking, she said. A rebuilt library would be more cost-effective with above-ground parking, and would improve traffic circulation -- but it would not take advantage of the joint programming opportunities offered by the third option, a combined-use facility that would connect the library with the adjacent community center.

Both the Library Advisory and the Parks and Recreation commissions unanimously recommended the joint-use option. City staff recommended that the council poll residents "to determine the level of community acceptance for the capital improvement options and costs," according to the staff report.

Earlier cost projections that placed the options between $42 million and $62 million were reduced by removing multipliers and inflation factors that were "overstated," said Assistant Public Works Director Mike Sartor. New preliminary cost projections pegged the options' price tags at between $23.5 million and $44 million.

Though the City Council will not take action on the library proposal until its meeting next week, Vice Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto worried that the plans did not take into account that the "daytime population of this city is twice the size of its nighttime population."

The impact of city workers on the libraries "is something to be aware of," she said.

E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.