By Bruce McPherson, County Supervisor 5th District
The new Scotts Valley Library reflects the core mission of Santa Cruz County Public Libraries – to be a welcoming, customer focused place that delivers a 21st century library experience.
The new library is bright and open with a variety of settings for individual and group study, work and activities. The collection is open and easy to browse with themed displays. Teens have a space of their own, separate from children and adults. The meeting room is flexible and can be set up as overflow work and study space or used for programs.
The Scotts Valley Library also reflects the vision of how modern library facilities encourage use by all segments of the community. It is the second highest circulating branch in the 11-library system and bustles with activity.
Attractive facilities like this draw a wide cross section of community members. By contrast, aging and outdated libraries discourage use.
Facilities Master Plan for Libraries
Unfortunately, Santa Cruz County has too many outdated libraries. They have shelves that are tall, full and difficult to browse. They lack the technology for laptops and other technologies that require increased customer access to data and power. Few of the facilities provide space for programs, meetings and collaborative work. Few of them offer dedicated space for teens. The Felton Library’s current building, a 1,250 square foot historic church, cannot be renovated to support any modern library use, let alone expanded.
The Santa Cruz City/County Library Joint Powers Board has recently accepted a Facilities Master Plan with scenarios to update the system’s 11 libraries and administrative offices. The plan offers three scenarios for the long-range capital improvements, ranging in cost from $16 million to $83 million. The three scenarios – called “Maintain,” “Gain,” and “Attain,” are outlined below.
A poll to measure the willingness to support a bond measure to fund capital improvements was conducted in August. With a general obligation bonds, a common form of financing long-term capital improvements, which requires a two-thirds voter approval. Each city and the county would pledge to use tax revenues to repay bondholders. This would require levying a property tax to pay debt service requirements.
Results of the poll are being tabulated and will be presented to members of the Library Joint Powers Board in September.
Maintain = Keep the Doors Open
Under the “Maintain” plan, maintenance projects would be constructed over a 10-year period at nearly all facilities. Only critical short-term projects at the existing facilities are included in this plan. Those projects include new roofs, new restrooms or restroom upgrades, window repairs, etc.
The total cost of this scenario is about $16 million.
This scenario includes only $55,000 for critical projects at the existing Felton Library over the next several years while the library prepares to move to new accommodations.
Under this scenario, $954,000 would be allocated to replace the roof on the Scotts Valley Library.
Boulder Creek Library would be allocated $1.3 million for a new roof, new interior finishes and upgraded restrooms, an upgraded electrical system and site erosion. Replacement lighting and materials that will reduce noise and echoing are included.
Gain = Modify the Existing Facilities
Projects included in the “Gain” plan modify current facilities to adapt to changing needs, technologies and services. Improvements are recommended at the Aptos, Boulder Creek, Branciforte, Downtown Santa Cruz, Garfield Park, Live Oak, La Selva Beach and Scotts Valley Libraries. This plan does not include recommendations for the Felton and Capitola Libraries or for the Santa Cruz headquarters, which is not a public library but rather houses administrative offices.
“Gain” projects vary by branch and include power and access upgrades, teen area upgrades, shelving and self-check upgrades, and retractable walls.
The total cost of this scenario is $5 million, or $21 million if combined with the “Maintain” scenario.
Scotts Valley Branch Library would receive $300,000 with the “Gain” plan or $1.25 under a combined “Maintain + Gain” scenario. The Scotts Valley Library already incorporates many of the service model elements that are recommended for the other libraries in the “Gain” plan. As a result, there are fewer projects anticipated for Scotts Valley under this plan. The Gain plan anticipates the installation of a noise reduction system, and the option of adding an automated materials handling system. The possibility of adding solar panels when the roof is replaced is also considered under this scenario.
Boulder Creek Library “Gain” projects would be allocated up to $575,000. Projects include replacement of the large staff desk with a smaller service area and expanded customer self-service. There is a budget in the “Gain” plan for enhanced customer access to power and data. There may be an opportunity for solar panels and other technology to enhance the library’s energy efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint.
Attain = Add Square Footage
The “Attain” plan addresses building renovations at existing libraries and two new buildings. New libraries are recommended in Felton and Capitola, while renovations or expansions are recommended at the Aptos, Downtown and Scotts Valley Libraries.
Under the “Attain” scenario, Felton would get its long-overdue and long-awaited library either in a new standalone building on a site being donated to the County, or in an existing building re-adapted for use as a library. The recommended budget for replacement of the Felton Library is $8.6 million.
Under the “Attain” plan, there are several future options for Scotts Valley Library to expand into the adjacent building, approximately 9,000 square foot tenant space. Options for this space include using the expansion space as a flex space for meetings, workshops and training, and performances or using the expansion space for community uses and independent use.
Another Scotts Valley option is to relocate the current meeting space in the library and some or all the group study spaces into the expansion space to provide “creation” spaces.
Such media spaces are emerging as a key component of the 21st century library to provide library customers with space, technology and training to publish creative works, videos and presentations.
No expansion is proposed for the Boulder Creek Library in the “Attain” scenario.
The maximum recommended cost of the Facilities Master Plan is $83 million, or $402 per person in the library system area. This cost would be about $722 per square foot, according to the facilities plan.
Public Discussion and Input
The Facilities Master Plan is the first step in the discussion on the future of the library system. I believe a lot more work is needed to refine the cost estimates, to reduce unnecessary costs and to prioritize a combination of library improvements based on needs that best serve our community.
I hope to convince members of the Library Joint Powers Board, along with Scotts Valley City Councilmember Jim Reed and Nancy Gerdt, a citizen representative from Felton, that a combination of priorities and projects in each of the scenarios should be developed, analyzed and agreed upon.
The categories of “Maintain,” “Gain,” and “Attain” have brought clarity to the options we should consider, but potential individual projects should be evaluated on a community-wide need basis.