Hundreds of Santa Marians gathered at the site of the city’s newly constructed Santa Maria Public Library, where officials spoke and celebrated the opening of the building on Aug. 23.
The ceremony opened with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. City Librarian Jack Buchanan greeted the crowd in a black-and-white tuxedo, and City Councilwoman Hilda Zacharias followed with a greeting in Spanish.
The keynote speaker was Mayor Larry Lavagnino, who spoke about the importance of civic institutions, such as the library.
“We must ensure that all residents have access to free knowledge,” he said. “This is a public library. It keeps the raw materials of our democracy.”
The mayor also spoke of the cost of the new library, which ran up to $22 million, he said. The grant that the city received from the Library Construction Act of 2000 only covered $16.39 million of the hefty bill. The rest of the money came from various donors and fundraisers.
“But there’s one other person that we haven’t thanked—that’s the taxpayer,” Lavagnino said.
After the mayor’s speech, Buchanan unveiled a surprise he’d been hiding: “We want, on this date—Aug. 23—to put the recommendation forward to the City Council to name the plaza Lavagnino Plaza.”
“It is such an honor,” said Lavagnino, choked with emotion. “I wish my mother and father were here to see this. Thank you so much.”
Following several more speakers, the cornerstone of the library was unveiled, the ribbon was cut, and people started filing in to read books, use computers, or enjoy the events scheduled for the day, including talks by local author Wendelin Van Draanen, storyteller Jim Cogan, local actor Gale McNeeley, and other performers.
Several notable faces were in the crowd as well, including Allan Hancock College President Dr. Jose Ortiz, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Superintendent Dr. Jeff Hearn, Santa Barbara County 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno, Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (33rd District), and Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria).
“It’s a beautiful building for the people of Santa Maria, and they deserve it,” Maldonado said. “If we could work together like this in Sacramento, we might actually get things done.”
The new building boasts 59,850 square feet on each floor—that’s 111 percent more than the former library. The building also has the capacity to hold 67 percent more books, 104 percent more audiovisual materials, 77 public computers, and 300 seats.
Large rooms and high ceilings lit by wall-high windows make up most of the shelf room. Smaller study rooms are scattered throughout the building, as are rooms for literacy training classes to be offered at the library, the city’s largest civic project.
City officials believe that a community meeting room, caf», bookstore, children’s library, and theater will also attract city residents.
This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2008.