The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Library's future look, expanded uses tied to community input
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
To get help envisioning the library of the future, the city of Sunnyvale is turning to the same architectural firm that helped the city of San Jose do the same.
San Jose-based Anderson Brulé Architects--the associate architects on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown San Jose--were awarded a $162,920 contract at the Aug. 22 Sunnyvale city council meeting to begin researching the city's library needs.
Library director Deborah Barrow said the group will help the library and the city identify the specific needs of Sunnyvale library users and then work to decide what is needed to meet those needs.
"We know that we've outgrown this building," Barrow said. "That much is clear."
The 36-year-old building currently holds more than 300,000 items in 60,000 square feet. With high demand for computers, meeting spaces and expanded reading collections, Barrow said the current building may not be enough, in terms of both capability and size.
The library of the future project--approved on April 25--is intended to help the city create a facility that will meet the needs of residents and businesses in Sunnyvale for the next two decades, a tough task given the changing economic and technological climate.
"It's a community of phenomenal library use. It's not just a place people go to get their books; it's a community center, a meeting place," said Anderson Brulé Architects project manager Monique Wood. "It's a well used and well loved library."
Wood said the Sunnyvale library will be one of a long line of recent library developments her company has been involved in, sparked by the 475,000 square foot, $1.5 million King library in San Jose.
In addition to work on six San Jose libraries, Wood said Redwood Shores has also approached the company to work on a library.
But before any work can be done, Wood said her company and the city need to learn what people expect from a modern Sunnyvale library.
Although the library has done surveys and outreach in the past to gather community input, Barrow and Wood said they are holding a community forum Sept. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the library's program room so the public can meet and talk with the planning team.
"We're trying to figure out what the community wants the library to be, what the city wants the library to be and how we can get that started," Wood said.
Comments and ideas for the new library can be left using the comment form at libraryofthefuture.insunnyvale.com.
In addition to the community forum, Barrow said the library is working to set up a series of focus groups to meet and discuss future library plans. For more information, or to participate, call the library at 408.730.7314.
