Book a ticket
Camarillo Library opens tomorrow
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

Head Librarian Sandi Banks navigates Camarillo's new 65,000-square-foot library with the heartfelt enthusiasm of someone truly excited to share the building that took six years to complete and which may very well be considered the city's greatest single accomplishment in its 43-year history.

"It's awe-inspiring," Banksaid. "It's a great library."

Tomorrow the city will officially open the library with a 10:30 a.m. ribbon cutting. Between 3,000 to 5,000 residents are expected to attend and the day will include book signings, storytelling, art workshops and historical reenactments.

With its California mission-style interior, it's easy to forget the $27million library features state-of-the-art computer technology that connects its network of more than 50 computers, and broadcasts wireless Internet access throughout the building.

Designed by the Glendale-based architectural firm Charles Walton and Associates, the two-story library at 4101 Las Posas Road is nearly four times larger than the city's 32-year-old facility on Ponderosa Road.

Photos by DANIEL WOLOWICZ/Acorn Newspapers OPEN SESAME- The $27-million library's imposing California mission-style facade, above, and homey two-story interior, inset. The building features wireless Internet access and more than 50 computers. Called "librarian heaven" by one employee, the library was designed to serve 95,000 Pleasant Valley residents by 2020.

"We really do hope and anticipate from the reaction of the people who have toured it that we have achieved providing this community with something that they can be proud of today and for years to come," City Manager Jerry Bankston said.

As visitors enter the new library, they are met by its sweeping lobby, its high white stucco ceiling crisscrossed with dark, thick beams of wood.

Oversized craftsman chairs, sofas and tables furnish the interior, giving it the feel of a large but cozy living room.

Brightly painted Spanish Colonial-style ceramic tiles are used throughout the lobby to create an illusion of faux Persian rugs across the library's earthen-colored floor. The colorful tiles are also found in intricate mosaics along the lobby's walls and pillars.

BOOKED- Youth librarian Chris Culver prepares books for the library's grand opening.

The lobby, which includes a check-out counter, feeds into the young adult and foreign language sections. A pair of staircases ascend to the second floor and the library's main book section.

Framed between the two staircases, a set of 10-foot-tall doors lead into the children's section- complete with a sunken pirate ship and a room designed to look like the inside of Captain Nemo's high-tech submarine from the Jules Verne classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

A few steps from the pirate ship's upturned stern, students will find the Esper A. Petersen Foundation Study Center- a homework room with individual desks and a bank of brand new computers. The study room was named after the Chicago-based philanthropic foundation which donated $375,000 to the new library in early January.

The children's section also features a number of murals depicting scenes from popular children's books. Story-telling areas are tucked into the corners of the airy room.

In the far corner of the children's section, a pair of curving floortoceiling mosaics inspired by Antoni Gaudi's design at Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain flanks a brightly colored reading area.

"It's like dying and going to librarian heaven," said youth librarian Chris Culver.

Upstairs in the main book section, rows of shelves divide the second floor's enormous stretch of space.

Bankston said the children's section and the main book collection were purposely placed on separate levels.

"I wanted to put more active things downstairs," Banks said. "The quieter areas are upstairs."

Highback chairs and deep sofas invite visitors to enjoy a good book beside the library's fireplace, complete with a bas relief of historic St. Mary Magdalen's Chapel, or by one of the wide windows that offer a panoramic view of neighboring farmlands.

The library includes five individual study rooms, a community conference room with a 250-seat capacity, an adult tutor center, three photocopy stations and a café.

City officials said that although the library may be a little large for the area's current population of about 78,000, it's meant to serve a projected 95,000 Pleasant Valley residents by 2020.

Community support

To meet state requirements for public libraries, city officials said they want the library to eventually house more than 225,000 books and materials- more than double the current number.

Toward that goal, the city sponsored the "Next Chapter" fundraising campaign in September in hopes of raising $1 million to purchase 40,000 new books and other material. Since its inception seven months ago, the volunteer-driven campaign has exceeded its fundraising goal- totaling nearly $1.5 million.

Bankston called the campaign's success "absolutely phenomenal.

"I think the community should be very, very proud of themselves," Bankston said. "I think it shows clearly the importance this community puts on civic services and facilities that really make this town a community."