January 26, 2006

Almaden Library and Community Center grand
opening set for mid May

Ambitious $17.5 million project described in detail
at public forum

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

After more than two years of waiting, Almaden Valley residents will soon get a chance to walk through the doors of the new Almaden Branch Library and Community Center.

The new state-of-the-art 65,000-square-foot shared facility will become operational in May.

Those behind the $17.5-million project, aided with photographs and a slide presentation, took a small group of Almaden residents on a quick orientation tour of the ambitious facility during Councilwoman Nancy Pyle’s Jan. 18 public forum at the Almaden Winery Community Center.

Donald DeWald, project manager, said the new state-of-the-art 65,000-square-foot shared facility would become operational in May replacing the old inadequate take-out-style-type library that served Almaden Valley for more
than three decades. Both the old community center and the library were razed in the winter of 2004.

Once in full swing, patrons are expected to check out more than one million items a year.

The library will have the capacity to hold more than 100,000 books. It’s also anticipated to become one of the busiest libraries and community centers in the city with a smart book collection to be augmented with additional funding from the San Jose Public Library budget. It will be the first joint library and community center project to open. There will be two other joint use facilities opening in the future in the city.

It will be the sixth library to open under an aggressive municipal library and community center building program made possible through passage of Measures O and P, the library and parks bonds approved by voters in November of 2000. The funding has allowed the city to create an impressive 21st-century library system.

Its opening will relieve pressure on the Vineland Branch Library, which opened in 2004. The Vineland Branch Library, located on Blossom Hill Road, has been functioning as the library for the Almaden, Cambrian and Vineland areas.

The city began constructing the facility in May of 2004. It’s expected to be completed in April of this year with a grand opening ceremony scheduled for mid May, said DeWald.

The new library will feature a large language collection, with a particularly large collection of Chinese- and Farsi-language materials, said Jane Light, the city’s library director.

“We’re really going to have the kind of facility that people have really wanted. It’s really exciting to be opening it,” Light said.

Former Almaden Library manager Suzanne Rostamizadeh, who attended the forum, was delighted to see the project to come to fruition.

“This will become the focal point for Almaden Valley,” Rostamizadeh said. “It’s something very wonderful to be proud of.”

The old library was about 10,000 square feet. The new library is 19,000 square feet.

The facility has also increased its computers from 10 to more than 30. It has also grown its seating capacity from 44 to more than 100.

“People didn’t have the opportunity to come in and do their homework. It was just so crowded,” Rostamizadeh said. “The community has been waiting for this for a long time.”

The community center has gone from 3,323 square feet to 34,999 square feet, nearly 10 times larger. The old multi-purpose room that only seated 150 people will now be a massive 3,951-square-feet community room with a seating capacity for 564 people and an Internet Café area.

The library will feature a tech center with more than 30 public-use computers. Middle and high school students will enjoy a separate study room to work on group assignments.

Old-fashioned libraries didn’t support this type of research, but the new library will thrive on it, Light explained.

It will also have a marketplace area showcasing new and hot library materials just like competing bookstores.

And the new library will also feature a larger adult and children’s collection, a teen room with computers, a quiet study room and a living room with a fireplace.

The community center’s Tiny Town section, an early childhood education center, will include three classrooms geared toward different age groups younger than 5 years of age, with access to the outside and its own restroom and storage room. The floors will be sturdy and easy to clean and the classrooms will include bulletin board walls illuminated with natural light coming in from the courtyard and will be located near Jake’s Tot Lot.

Operation hours
Operation hours will be experimental for the facility, at first, Light explained.

Donald R. DeWald, project manager for the new Almaden Library and Community Center, gives a quick orientation of the new facility to a small group of residents. Photo by Sheila Sanchez

A tentative schedule shows the library will be open on Mondays from 2-7 p.m., Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The community center’s tentative schedule is Mondays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

The community center will feature a 3,951-square-foot community room with a 564-person occupancy. It can be divided into spaces for different uses with a commercial kitchen loaded with dishwashers and ovens.

Light has been working with Pyle to raise money to purchase additional books and buy furniture. District 10’s Construction Tax and Conveyance Tax Fund gave $500,000 to purchase exercise equipment and furniture for the community center.

The San Jose Public Library Foundation is raising additional money for the library. It’s received about $90,000, which includes $27,000 for the children’s area from a poker tournament that fell through because of federal regulations against gambling from the Almaden Business Association and it recently received $10,000 from the Almaden Valley Women’s Club for the check-out area.

The city may also do a mailing to Almaden Valley residents asking for donations. Those who donate more than $1,000 will get their name printed on a permanent donor wall near its lobby area.

One of the most heartwarming donations has come from a young child in Almaden who requested money donated to the library and community center in lieu of birthday presents. More than $600 was donated in her name.

Parking
On-site parking will have increased from 32 to 164 spaces. The parking structure is already presenting a dilemma for city officials who fear it will be too small to meet the needs of all patrons, particularly on weekends during heavy usage. Many are expected to park at nearby Simonds Elementary School or at Parma Park.

Parking at the Vineland Branch Library, which has about 60 parking spaces, is said to be creating nightmares for patrons. Light called the situation “it’s biggest flaw at the moment.” But once that library is relieved of serving Cambrian and Almaden patrons, its traffic problems will be reduced, Light said.

Community center
The two-story community center will include a gymnasium with maple wood floors, which is about 5,900 square feet, about the size of a junior high school gym where volleyball, basketball, indoor soccer and other sports can be played.

The fitness center will have various exercise machines and equipment.

“We have a lot [to offer] for everybody,” said Marie Alberry-Hawkins, recreation superintendent for San Jose’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services. “We’re hoping to reach all of you…This is a stunning facility.”

On the second floor of the community center patrons will enjoy several classrooms, including a special room where they can take cooking lessons with five stove stations.

Public art
The project’s public art budget was $415,000. The money was used to hire artist Ray King to build a large chandelier artwork that will hang from the two-story ceiling at the entrance on Camden Avenue. Artist Lisa Reinerston’s bronze sculpture of an Ohlone Indian princess will be placed in the courtyard. Artists Mark Evans and Charles Brown designed two large interior murals depicting Almaden’s past and present.

San Jose Library Director Jane Light and Almaden Branch Library Manager Pamela Crider answered questions from the public during Councilwoman Nancy Pyle’s Jan. 18 public forum.

Staffing
Pamela Crider, who served for more than 10 years as a young adult librarian at the old Almaden library, will become the general manager of the new library. She’s been working as the branch manager of the West Valley Branch Library.

“We will set the standard that everyone will like to meet,” Crider said. “I’ve enjoyed serving this community before and I’m excited to be returning to Almaden Valley.”

City officials are in the process of hiring a manager for the community center.

Several people expressed concern during the presentation about staffing the facility. Light is working with the city manager’s office and the city council to get funding in next year’s budget to hire more library workers.

To maintain the facility, Light said she would have to scrape funds for carpet cleaning and window washing.

Looking forward
Pyle said she was excited about the opportunity to serve the entire community with the new facility.

“It will be such a great gathering place where we can showcase a lot of the local talent that we have,” Pyle said. “We’re going to have it all. It’s going to be the envy of the library and community centers in the county.”

Crider reconvened this month the Friends of the Almaden Library group. She encouraged those in attendance to participate in the group’s meetings and its fundraising and advocacy efforts.

Bebe Higgins, who’s lived in Almaden Valley since 1966, said, “I’m all for this facility. It’s so wonderful.”

Her husband, Herschel Higgins, was also impressed with the project and called its construction “one of the greatest things that’s happened in Almaden Valley in 40 years.”

“This is a great step forward for San Jose and Almaden Valley. It’s something we have needed for several years and it’s going to serve the community in a much better way than the old library did because we will have the space and the books to help educate the children,” he said. “This facility will help to make us a stronger community.”