Residents want complete library

Elia Powers

A crowd of nearly 40 Costa Mesa residents packed into a cozy room at

the Neighborhood Community Center on Thursday evening to discuss

plans for a potential new library facility.

Speakers cited long lines for computers, monthlong waits for books

and inadequate entrances for handicapped users as some of the current

problems.

“We call our city the city of arts,” said Dan Worthington, a

Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries board member. “But we have a big

black hole -- the library system.”

It isn’t the first time someone has made that complaint.

Since the Orange County Library System launched operations in

1919, the Costa Mesa facilities regularly have been a point of

contention.

“Our facilities have never matched our city’s growth,” said Mary

Ellen Goddard, Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries president and

Costa Mesa Historical Society archivist. “We’ve often been promised

facilities and then seen the actual buildings be smaller than

advertised.”

In 1923, when the first Costa Mesa library opened, space was at a

premium. The library filled the second story of the Bank of Balboa

building on Newport Boulevard.

According to historical reports, problems there arose immediately.

Bank employees downstairs allegedly complained about the noise made

when library visitors walked up the wooden steps.

So the library moved into its own building on 18th Avenue and

Newport Boulevard less than two years after its initial opening. But

that location was on a busy street corner, and residents and

librarians grew tired of the noise.

For the second time in three years, the library changed locations.

A former metal factory building less than a block from Newport

Boulevard served as the library’s home for more than 26 years. During

that time, the book collection grew exponentially and the librarians

reportedly felt firmly rooted.

That is, until the property owner decided to put the building on

wheels and roll it across the lot to make room for a newer facility.

It wasn’t until 1965 that a second library, the Mesa Verde Branch,

was built. Still, few seemed happy with the facilities.

“We had tremendous growth over a period of years,” said

Worthington, a 24-year Costa Mesa resident. “There were way too many

bases to cover. Libraries went on the back burner more often than

not.”

Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries began in 1960 as an advocate

group. They were integral in the 1987 rebuilding of the library that

currently operates on Park Avenue.

“The previous facility had leaks and all sorts of problems,”

Goddard said. “We were just so glad to get something.”

Costa Mesa currently has two full-service facilities and a

technical center with 26 computers.

But as residents see million-dollar facilities sprouting up in

smaller Southern California cities, some are demanding a change.

Worthington said he has identified a plot of land near the

Fairgrounds that could serve as a future library home as soon as

2008.

He said the group plans to approach the City Council with a

proposal in the coming months.

Goddard said a new 50,000-square-foot facility could cost anywhere

from $25 to $50 million -- slightly more expensive than the

$70-per-month rent paid by the initial library owner.