Central Library Closed Through Feb 4 Due to Construction Impacts
Update by the Santa Barbara Public Library
January 31, 2023
Santa Barbara Public Library will continue with modified operations Tuesday, January 31 through Saturday, February 4. Central Library is anticipated to reopen Tuesday, February 7.
On Wednesday, January 25, there was a critical failure of the dust mitigation plan for the elevator work in progress in the center of Central Library, so the Library acted out of an abundance of caution to modify operations to protect the health and safety of staff and patrons. While the air quality is being monitored and construction plans are being assessed, Central Library will remain closed.
While staff are unavailable to answer the Library’s main phone line, patrons can contact Library staff using the Library’s chat during regular hours on the website, texting (805) 273-8916, or calling Eastside Library at (805) 963-3727 or Montecito Library at (805) 969-5063.
Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery is on a separate HVAC system and room rental events scheduled are not impacted by the closure, but the galleries will be closed for art viewing outside of reserved times.
Patrons with holds ready for pickup at Central Library will be extended through the closure.
An additional Music and Movement class will be added to Eastside Library’s schedule on Wednesday, February 1 at 10:15 a.m. to replace the regular scheduled class at Central Library.
Central Library Closed Through Tuesday Due to Construction Activity
By the Santa Barbara Public Library
January 26, 2023
Overnight construction activity impacted air quality at Central Library at 40 E. Anapamu. Tests are being done to ensure the building is safe for patrons and staff. Results will not be available until next week. Out of an abundance of caution, Central Library is closed and expects to reopen on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
While staff are unavailable to answer the Library’s main phone line, patrons can contact Library staff using the Library’s chat during regular hours on the website, texting (805) 273-8916, or calling Eastside Library at (805) 963-3727 or Montecito Library at (805) 969-5063.
Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery is on a separate HVAC system and room rental events scheduled are not impacted by the closure, but the galleries will be closed for art viewing.
Patrons with holds ready for pickup at Central Library will have a three-day extension.
Santa Barbara Public Library’s Library on the Go van will add additional stops on Friday, Saturday, and Monday featuring collections and children’s programming.
On Friday, January 27, Library on the Go van will be at Alameda Park from 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. following the regular Shoreline Park visit from 10 a.m. until noon.
The van will visit Alameda Park from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 28. Library staff will have children’s activities all day, in addition to a Poetry Walk featuring poems written by local poets as part of a workshop with Mission Poetry Series.
On Monday, the van will visit Shoreline Park from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a special pop-up Stay and Play class for families and young children and will visit Alameda from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. with activities for school-age children.
7 Comments
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Jan 31, 2023 05:59 PMAre the staff getting paid for all this time off? Likely the upper levels of administrators are not hourly employees so they are getting paid, but I wonder about the folks who interact with the public. Although i used to wish they were friendly, as the staff used to be, years past, I can understand how the director sets the example. (Of course, some individuals do return a friendly smile.) What's particularly sad is to go into the library and see how many books are no longer there. E-books are great, but they are short-lived, dependent on the software which, as we all know, upgrades and changes, leaving behind past formats, sometimes for proprietary formats that in 10 years or so will be abandoned.
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Jan 29, 2023 10:00 AMYeah I agree, truly fond memories of the downtown library as a kid especially, working on various “reports” in junior high. Learning how to research a topic, find a book or encyclopedia, ask a librarian for help. That foundation served me well in graduate school and beyond. It was about having a place to sit down quietly and do some homework. My parents wouldn’t ever have to worry about me there. A clean, quiet, and safe space for a youngster. The library building itself is fantastic.
I haven’t been down there recently, but every time I drive by there it’s a real different feel. I wouldn’t drop my kid off there to do his homework these days, that’s for sure.
And yes, Goleta is a great, if not small, library. The staff are very helpful. Its yet another way in which Goleta has its act together better than her big sister Santa Barbara.
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Jan 29, 2023 08:52 AMIn 1979-1980 the library was remodeled and expanded under the direction of Jerry Zimmer. What a bright, airy and attractive facility that re-opened to the public. Then: lots of stacks and periodicals, students doing homework, reference librarians staffing desks, a mecca for readers, vibrant. Now: sometimes change is for the good, sometimes change is not.
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Jan 27, 2023 04:52 PMSanta Barbara has a great neighboring library, the Goleta Library! When SB quit the Black and Gold System, I got a card at Goleta. Not only is the library open more often than is Santa Barbara, but the staff are friendly --- and there's the great resource of the Black and Gold system that the SB Library system spurned, preferring to be only the Eastside and Montecito. In addition and particularly important, we've found the Goleta staff members to be friendly and helpful. (Some SB staff members are also friendly and helpful.) SB Library seems not to value books but wants to be much more than a library.
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Jan 27, 2023 01:44 PMLibrary Director is not a people-person. She isn't even a book-person.
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Jan 27, 2023 09:49 AMWhat a continuing saga of anxiety and whining this library has become. Users are so low on the priority pole that they seem to disappear. Closing the library for days because there was overnight construction is overkill and a form of hypochondria. Increasingly SB Library patrons have been doing business in Goleta where customers are appreciated and services are available pretty much consistently. If public access to the building is really compromised they could still provide pick up services as they did during the worst of covid.
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Jan 31, 2023 03:45 PMDid you even read the article? The dust mitigation system failed and is affecting the air quality in the library. That's not "overkill" or "hypochondria", that's the City avoiding liability and lawsuits. Including from employees, so no, they cannot provide pick up services. Fine particulate matter is not to be messed with.