Santa Barbara Public Library Expands Hours for Services at Central Library During Construction
By the Santa Barbara Public Library
Construction continues at the Central Library but the main level of the Library will be open for holds pick up and browsing collections of physical library materials, including children’s and teen books, fiction, nonfiction, Spanish, DVDs, and special collections.
Beginning September 6, regular hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Thursdays, the Library will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Seating, public Wi-Fi, printing, and computer access are still unavailable. The expanded hours at Eastside Library will remain in effect, and Library on the Go van stops will also continue.
During this time, three simultaneous construction projects at Central Library are underway. Outside the Library, crews are focusing on laying the groundwork for a new Library Plaza that will serve as a gathering space for Library programs and community events. The new space will be accessible and environmentally friendly with permeable pavers and drought resistant landscaping. This project is made possible with support from the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation, which raised $5 million dollars in a capital campaign with donations from the community. The City of Santa Barbara also contributed $2,286,902 in capital funding to make this project possible.
In addition to the Plaza, a new, ADA accessible elevator is being built in the center of the Library that will provide access to the Children’s Library and Upper Level. The Library’s current elevator is more than 50 years old. Over the last several years it has been out of order for extended periods of time, limiting access and increasing the workload of Library staff, who must transport books by hand up and down the stairs when the elevator is out of service. The new elevator will not only allow for better access for people with mobility challenges, wheelchair users, and strollers, but will also be a beautiful modern, glass structure.
The final project underway is the lower level staff area renovation. Over the last several decades, upgrades have focused on improvements to the public spaces in the Library, but the staff area was in need of a renovation to reflect modern workflows and increased staff efficiencies. As part of this project, network equipment is also being relocated and the internet cabling in the building is being upgraded. This work will allow the Library to fully realize the improvements to the Wi-Fi network Library staff implemented earlier in 2022, funded by a California State Library broadband grant. Because of the cabling upgrade and network equipment relocation, the Library’s self-check machines and automatic returns machine are both inoperable at this time, but Library staff are working diligently to facilitate the borrowing of materials.
Construction projects often experience delays or unexpected challenges. Additional closure dates for construction related power outages and water shut offs are possible, but there is not a final schedule of when those interruptions will occur. Updates will be posted on the Library’s website, in the email newsletter, and on social media as they are available.
Santa Barbara Public Library is a department of the City of Santa Barbara. Visit the Santa Barbara Public Library online at SBPLibrary.org for information about programs and services. All library programs are free and open to the public.
7 Comments
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Sep 07, 2022 04:33 PMSounds more like a museum than a book lover’s library.
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Sep 07, 2022 06:00 PMThe library continues its own course which is not pleasant for those who think a library should be about books and similar media. The staff seems determinedly fragile. They continually deny the public reasonable access that might upset their people it seems. It is nice that they have resumed real hours as the recent cut back was absurd. (Back in the day of rampant Covid they at least served patrons at the side outside door during regular hours.) We have joined the Goleta system and get more than half of our books from them and their partners. Meanwhile an amazing amount of money is being spent on things other than material including multiple remodels. The small Goleta library seems to manage just fine without the vast empty spaces the SB Library is creating.
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Sep 07, 2022 06:20 PMTo be fair, when the construction first started they were still open for pickups during regular hours. The noise was so loud from all the construction, I felt sorry for the employees. They soon shifted to evening hours only to work around the noise, And there is work being done inside the library, so it wasn’t safe for the public. I’m glad to see we have access to the shelves again. And I mainly want books, real, physical, old fashioned books. Other offerings are fine, but don’t reduce the old-timey, paper and ink book budget. Please.
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Sep 08, 2022 08:01 AMI completely agree: I, too, have joined the Goleta Library and appreciate being in a library that honors books (and, of course, videos, audiobooks, and other contemporary access modes) by being part of the Black and Gold system of libraries while Santa Barbara is only Santa Barbara and Montecito. The SB Library is an embarrassment - and sadness - especially for those of us who remember what a pleasure it was to visit. It is not at all likely that the improvement of the staff quarters, the increased open space outside, the elevator will make up for so much that has been lost: the reference desk with its always helpful staff, the book shelves in the main entry room now given over to open space so the unfortunate homeless are now visible to all, the near elimination of the periodicals, and most of all, the near elimination of the feeling of being in a friendly, welcoming place for reading and just being among words. What a loss for the youth (and the rest of us) of this small city. …Shame on the City Council that has encouraged these changes!
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Sep 07, 2022 07:36 PMLimiting the operating hours of the Main branch of the SB Public Library for these construction priorities seems odd, if not tone deaf, to the needs of the general membership. 1) construct an outdoor plaza, as if that hasn't been in the process with the SB Museum of Art Plaza for the past five years. 2) refurbish the elevator to the upper floor. 3) renovate a staff area in the basement. Many years ago, I attended the grand opening of the new public library: what a delight. A desk staffed by reference librarians (now abandoned). A desk staffed by circulation folks who could help you check out a book, give you a new library card, direct you to a stack of books, or a card catalog or a computer to find the book you were looking for.. A periodical display in the basement with newspapers and magazines from all over the country, if not the world. Black Gold membership to borrow books from across the Tri-Counties. Sigh. It just seems like our main branch has become a pale shadow of what it once was, and these current improvements do nothing to restore it to significance and relevance.
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Sep 07, 2022 07:57 PMI don’t intend to be an apologist for the decision makers. But people are always railing about the homeless people downtown. I suspect half the reason for the library plaza renovations is to remove the cozy corners where people could settle in and hang out. The new plan looks pretty much like a concrete slab. The sunken area by the old fountain will be leveled out. I don’t know. We will see.
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Sep 07, 2022 08:38 PMWonder what the stats are for public use the past few years. Visits must have plummeted and continue to stay very low. When other institutions opened up after COVID the SBPL lagged. As a parent It really bothered us when they even closed the library during the summer months, making it difficult for our teenagers to visit and browse for materials.. It was difficult during the COVID shut downs, but the City is exacerbating the literacy value of their collection for the public by being so inaccessible.