Wednesday Apr 30

City gears up for $80 million library bond

Marketing efforts begin, opposition small

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto city staff and community leaders began an outreach program on Tuesday evening designed to broaden support for the $80 million library bond measure.

The crowd at the meeting at the city's main library was small and tame - at least by Palo Alto standards.

While some skeptics in the audience of fewer than 20 residents questioned the project's scope, most present asked about smaller details like landscaping and parking. And compared to the outrage that is prone to erupt in Palo Alto neighborhoods wherever new development is proposed, the crowd was more curious than concerned.

The night's presentation marked the city's first attempt at selling locals on its vision of upgrades to the downtown library, major renovations to the main library and new construction of a combined Mitchell Park library and community center - a trio of projects estimated to cost a total of $80.3 million.

Library Advisory Commission Chair Valerie Stinger and Dawn Merkes, project manager for Group 4 Architecture, stressed that the projects would bring space to cramped libraries both for patrons and books, as well as make needed infrastructure and building code improvements.

"These buildings are not designed to support the wide variety of services modern libraries can provide," said Stinger, noting that the night's meeting was being held in a library built 50 years earlier.

While residents did not dispute the particulars of the cost estimates, some seemed skeptical that voters would pass a bond measure of such large scope.

Resident Tom Ashton called the plans "too grand" and questioned why the city needed to maintain all five branches.

Library Director Diane Jennings said many citizens are strongly dedicated to having neighborhood library branches, and the issue remains a thorny policy choice.

"We can debate this forever, but when are we going to go forward and improve the library system?" she asked.

And Stinger said the currently proposed plans are actually smaller than those put forward in the failed 2002 bid.

"This is no Jaguar," she said of the Mitchell Park plans. "This is a very serviceable Prius."

The city council is expected to decide in June or July whether to place the bond measure on the November ballot.

The city will hold two more public meetings on the library bond this week: tonight at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m., both at the Mitchell Park Community Center meeting room, located at 3800 Middlefield Road.



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