Library grant is money in the bank

By Michael Picarella pic@theacorn.com

The city of Calabasas last week received the first installment of a $8.2 million grant to build a municipal library at the proposed new Calabasas Civic Center.

California State Treasurer Phil Angelides awarded the city a check for $800,000 during a Feb. 18 ceremony inside the city’s current library, which is located across the street from the proposed civic center site near The Commons shopping center.

Construction on the 24,000-square-foot new library is scheduled to begin in spring of 2006 in conjunction with the civic center as a whole. It will blend classic and contemporary design features using a Spanish mission theme.

The facility will offer the latest in library technologies and appeal to community members of all ages.

The city competed for the grant for more than two years before its efforts finally paid off.

"This was a very long process and a lot of people worked very hard," said James Bozajian, a city council member and part of a group that lobbied for teh grant in Sacramento.

The library will operate in conjunction with Las Virgenes Unified School District and will include a homework center with tutoring programs, the latest textbooks, electronic access to homework assignments via school websites and other services.

Calabasas had previously applied for the grant without a joint-use agreement with the school district. That application was denied, even though grant officials labeled it as "outstanding."

"When we didn’t suceed the first time (in obtaining the grant) we redoubled our efforts and were able to get it," Bozajian said.

After partnering with the school district and reapplying, the state library grant board gave the project first priority status and approved the funding.

The grant was born out of Proposition 14, a voter initiative passed in 2000. The measure established funds to build new libraries and refurbish existing ones throughout California.

"Libraries are a vital asset for our communities, providing learning oportunities for children and adults alike, a civic gathering place, and a reminder of the value of knowledhe in a democratic society," Angiledes said.

Only one in six library grant applications received state approval, Angiledes said.

During its early years as a city, Calabasas considered a partnership with Los Angeles County and the neighboring cities of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village to build a regional library. But Calabasas had a long-term strategy for building its own city library, City Councilmember Dennis Washburn said.

After establishing the Friends of the Calabasas Library and the Calabasas Library Committee, which later became the Calabasas Library Commission, the city leased space in a series of small buildings with hopes of one day building a permanent library, Washburn said.

Others who worked to obtain the grant include Library Commission Chair Fred Gaines, commission member Ellen Pangarliotis and city staffer Matthew Hayden.

Los Angeles and Orange County-based Fields Devereaux is the project architect.

"It’s our role as stewards of the public trust that this will absolutely last for the next 100 years," said Peter Deveraux, chief executive.