Long-awaited North Long Beach library is on the way: Editorial

North Long Beach residents long have complained that they have been neglected by the rest of the city. And their complaints have had merit.

The area just didn’t have enough political clout to get what other areas of the city were enjoying.

But one major complaint about the lack of library services is about to change with the announcement that construction for the long-awaited and much needed new library on Atlantic Avenue between 59th and South Streets will start in early spring.

When completed, the $11 million, 25,500-square-foot building will more than triple the size of the current, totally inadequate, 6,800-square-foot North Neighborhood Library branch on nearby Orange Avenue.

When the Orange Avenue library was built in 1951, there were 25,000 residents living in the area. The population has grown to more than 90,000 and the outdated library was literally bursting at the seams.

Plans for a new library have been in the works since 2002 when the city and the nation were coming out of a recession. Why the delay?

Blame that on many factors, but the major one was a lack of consensus on what other projects should be built around the library. Ironically, the long-deprived area had come into some decent redevelopment funds and, as expected, people disagreed on how to use it. Another issue was a controversy over preserving the iconic Atlantic Theater which will be demolished to make way for the library.

Eleanore Schmidt, now retired, was the library director during much of this period and she remembers most the constant support from residents for a new library.

“The community never gave up on the library,” she recalled. “At all the meetings everyone would give the library the top priority.”

The project still was almost lost when Gov. Jerry Brown dissolved the redevelopment agencies in California two years ago. The funding for the project was delayed until recently when the state said this particular project could proceed.

There is no question this library, and others like it, are needed, despite some naysayers who say people aren’t reading books the way they used to.

A just-released Pew study shows overwhelming support by Americans for libraries. The vast majority of Americans ages 16 and older said materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed and promote literacy. Most Americans also feel libraries have done a good job in embracing new technology.

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In Long Beach, the library system has kept up with the information evolution by creating Family Learning Centers with computers and assistants.

The dozen or so computers at the present library in North Long Beach will be increased to 48. Two computer stations for patrons with disabilities also will be available, making the North Branch the only location besides the Main Library downtown to offer such technology. That’s truly needed in this underserved area.

The new library will have three meeting spaces, including an auditorium-style community room. “Welcoming spaces for the community,” Schmidt called them.

The new library will be a source of pride for the north area of Long Beach. Hopefully, it will spark other projects and lead to a fuller renaissance in the area.

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