Newhall Library opens, ctd — The SCV Talk Archive

Some reader responses to my post on what the opening of the Newhall Library means for Newhall:

My wife and I visited the library on Sunday. As a former City of Fullerton Library worker I was surprised by the lack of books. I am guessing its a library built for the digital age.

I think that's right. One thing you'll immediately notice about the new library is that material collections don't dominate the floor plan or the space. It's not like they are an after thought, but they definitely play a secondary role to computer kiosks, study areas and seating. It's less a traditional library and more of a 21st century community learning center, even as it boasts way more items than the old Newhall library. Some would say it feels like a book store rather than a library. Guess what? Book stores like Barnes & Noble are popular.

One thing I noticed at the library is the facility's superb Wifi infrastructure, provided by a company called Meraki (yes I'm a nerd like that and notice these things). Meraki handles centralized wifi for major hotels, university campuses, and large businesses. I spied a generous amount of wifi access points mounted on the ceilings and even outside the facility. This is beefy, enterprise-grade wireless built to handle hundreds of users. It seems the city is inviting us to bring our digital devices on site, sit down, read for awhile, and perhaps check out an e-book or two.

And isn't encouraging patrons to read and learn something a library should do, regardless of the medium?

I'm curious what kind of internet bandwidth the new library has.

Speaking of e-books, one reader wishes there were more:

The library is just comfortable. The lady who waited on my son for his library card is the Valencia librarian. We found her upstairs at a desk with no line so we were able to talk to her for a bit. She and I were talking about e-books and I told here that I often ended up buying the books on-line as I wanted the books “now” and the library e-book system had so few licenses (I think that is fairly typical) that it often took as long to wait for an e-book as it did a hard copy. She explained that the library had two different systems available, one of which carried the “classics” that students would need and that there were unlimited licenses on these books.

I suspect we'll only see e-book collections grow. You can already check out laptops from the Newhall library, how long will it be before you can check out an e-book reader and browse the library's collection on it? Even better, what if you could check out a whole collection of e-book materials on a given subject, like say SCV History? How's about augmented reality tablets built for the new library that could guide you around the building and its collections?

Someone stop me, I'm having a nerdgasm.

Another reader with a snarky response to the critics:

Guess what, haters and naysayers? Next heavy El Nino winter we have, I will finally get to ski down Lyons Avenue and cozy up at the new Olde Towne Book Chalet while you sit at home and grumble about what a waste of money all this civic investment is.

Ha!

Another on the old LSSI debate:

Great article on the library opening. What appears to have happened -- widespread support and interest for a downtown Newhall library -- is exactly what I expected. We don't like the intralibrary loan service with LA County, but ooh, laptops! And parking! And seating by the fireplace! Looks like validation. How long can the anti-LSSI crowd stay away?

Look, I've always said it was the process that angered people, not necessarily that the City chose a private company to run the libraries. And, LSSI opponents got their pound of flesh for that; Laurie Ender did not win a second term. I say it's time to move on and try to make this thing a success.

Another:

I'll always be nostalgic for the old library - both memories and the coziness -- I think the new library will be well used.

It did have a certain 1960s/Mayberry charm to it that I can't quite describe. You can picture kids in the 1960s walking to and from Newhall Elementary school then stopping by the library to study or meet or pickup books on their way home. It's from that time, when kids walked to school and measured distances by the number of city blocks between places.

I was always struck by the mosaic tiles on the outside the building that seemed out of place yet contemporary at the same time. Visiting the old library always brought me back to Catholic grade school; whether it was the furniture, the fixtures, or the smell & strictness of the place it felt almost exactly like the small library at my Catholic school.

But it was obsolete two decades ago and Newhall, the cultural bedrock of the SCV (Hat tip: Laurene Weste) deserved something better.

And now we have it.

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