April 1, 2008

Oliverio takes tour of library currently under construction

District 6 Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio and San Jose Library Director Jane Light recently toured the new Willow Glen Branch Library, which is nearing completion.

The tree that shaded a number of library events remains on an enclosed patio, which will serve as a story time area on warm, summer days.

Although there were some holes in the floor and the ceilings were unfinished, walls unpainted and construction work was visible throughout, it appears the library is shaping up nicely and should be a treat for patrons when it opens late this summer or early this fall.

The one-story building has an open feel with high ceilings and unique light fixtures. Its artwork, which already has been installed, is in the form of windows. Two glass panes encompass the colorful work within 50 windows on the western side of the building.

As in the other new branches, the children’s area will be large and spacious. Willow Glen’s children’s room offers visions of tree limbs and leaves, to match the old tree on the patio that was saved. The tree can be seen from anywhere in the library building. Also remaining from the old library is the old mosaic. The patio is surrounded and protected from the wind, and Light said the branch plans to hold story times there on warm summer days.

There is a glassed-in room that will be designated as a teen lounge, a fireplace and a magazine room off the patio as well as a quiet room and computer areas. During the fall, library personnel hope to open a cafe. And, the unpaved parking lot is gone, to be replaced with a paved parking lot, opposite the library’s entrance.

Once the library has been completed, librarians plan to order 20,000 to 25,000 new books, a dream come true for any reader. After the books, DVDs, and other library necessities are in place, the city will hold a grand opening.