Bonnie Carroll
The line up of outstanding nonprofits participating in the City of Santa Barbara Library opening of the Michael Towbes Library Plaza in the Plaza Palooza celebration on Anapamu was a who’s who in community organizations.
The fun street event held in tandem with the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony of the beautiful Michael Towbes Library Plaza was impressive and an example of community pride and love that will not easily be forgotten.
The beloved Santa Barbara Library was the gathering spot for the opening of the long awaited library plaza, and attracted all the major politicians, nonprofit organization members, library supporters and hundreds of area residents to share in the love of books, love of community and to express their gratefulness to the Santa Barbara Library Foundation, the Towbes Group and Montecito Bank and Trust for their sponsorship and hard work to create the Michael Towbes Library Plaza which will provide an outstanding community meeting place for City of Santa Barbara and nonprofit events as well as a stunning entrance walk to the Santa Barbara Central Library on Anapamu Street.
As a representative of the Sister Cities International Santa Barbara Sister Cities Committee Board of Directors I felt proud to be among the impressive group of nonprofit organizations supporting and participating in the Plaza Palooza where visitors enjoyed meet and greets with representatives of each organization to ask questions and receive helpful information to take home. It was enjoyable to speak with Robin Elander, Executive Director of the Downtown Organization, Cyndi Silverman, CED of Jewish Federation of Sana Barbara, Executive Director Penny Little of Summer Solstice Celebrations, Inc., and nice to chat with Councilman Oscar Gutierrez who is our Sister Cities International City of Santa Barbara Board Liaison.
Families enjoyed food from food trucks, including Eladio’s and many people passing by told me they had found great book buys in the Friends of Santa Barbara Library area, where volunteers were very busy keeping the shelves full. This once in a lifetime City of Santa Barbara event included a formal opening ribbon cutting with full press coverage that was attended by Mayor Randy Rowse, members of the Santa Barbara City Council, State representatives, Santa Barbara Library and Library Foundation officials, major donors, library supporters and community residents. Tours were also being given to visitors throughout the afternoon.
Throughout the four-hour Plaza Palooza a bevy of community musicians and artists performed, including dancers from the State Street Ballet who performed a scene from the Nutcracker. Some of the nonprofit booths lining Anapamu Street I had a brief opportunity to speak with included Planned Parenthood, Martin Luther King Santa Barbara Foundation, MOXI, Teddy Bear Foundation, Kiwanis SB, League of Women Voters, and so many more as far along Anapamu as the eye could see. Our Sister Cities International, City of Santa Barbara Sister Cities booth was busy and visited by over 200 attendees during the afternoon, and it was a pleasure to share information and answer questions on our six fantastic Sister Cities with them.
Children were relaxing on blankets, playing with toys, while enjoying picnic lunches their parents had brought for them. I thoroughly enjoyed watching so many parents having more fun than their children making art at the MOXI art tables, and countless families passing by who stopped to show me the books they had purchased to support the library. It was a lighthearted community celebration and an opportunity for old friends to reunite in a spirit of true community pride.
Many thanks to The Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation who support the long-term health and sustainability of the Santa Barbara Public Library through public-private partnerships. This project has been a long-time coming and includes countless supporters and major donors. A list of the proud supporters of the Michael Towbes Library Plaza can be viewed at https://sblibraryfoundation.
rubaiyat: Many of us know what you are talking about and the perspective that you seem to be coming from, but libraries provide much more than “books.” I used to write letters, send cards/notes, etc., but sadly I now send text messages and email to my closes friends. Whenever I happen to receive an actual handwritten piece of mail in my mailbox, it makes me very happy.
Libraries are a thing of the past
So is that mindset.
RUBY – no, but you are.
That statement is absurd. What are you going to do, BUY every book you want to read?!
I doubt the rube has read a book since grade school, if even then. Otherwise, it’s hard to see how one could be so wrong about so many things.