Palm Springs eyes COD library tie

Skip Descant
TDS
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The Palm Springs Public Library will form an exploratory committee with the College of the Desert to examine the idea of a joint partnership at the location of the Palm Springs Mall.

City and college officials recently announced their intention to build a College of the Desert west valley campus at the site of the largely abandoned shopping mall. The move would require that COD purchase the property and demolish the mall, a process that could become complicated as the the mall’s owner has shown little interest in selling.

At the same time, Palm Springs has been studying the idea of either updating or replacing its aging library. The idea of a COD and Palm Springs library partnership was touted by Mayor Steve Pougnet during the COD announcement last month.

Library trustees say timing is a major question going forward.

“Are we talking three years before we have a complete, clear, title-deed and we can work with COD to do architectural plans?” wondered David Gray, a member of the Palm Springs Public Library Board of Trustees.

“Or, is this five or more years down the road? That, to me, is the big question,” he added, speaking during the library’s board meeting Thursday.

Studies show it could cost almost $15 million to transform the 40-year-old Palm Springs Public Library into a state-of- the-art facility.

“If we don’t go with what we have currently, and we put this off, then what does that mean in the interim?” Gray added.

These are all issues to be studied by the exploratory committee, which will meet for two to three months, and will then make a recommendation to the Palm Springs City Council.

The City Council has “always struggled with the level of investment into a facility like this. Does it get us to where we want to be? What should libraries be?” said David Ready, Palm Springs city manager, speaking to the library trustees. “The question is, what projects do we actually pull the trigger on?

“So at the end of the two- or three-month period we’re going to have enough information, I believe, to make a recommendation to council,” said Ready.

“We’re going to know where they are in their process. And then we put it in front of the City Council, and let them give us some direction.”

The idea of a public library partnering with a community college is not a new one, say library officials.

“It’s not like you can’t make that work. You can,” said Harry Courtright, a member of the Palm Springs Public Library Board of Trustees.

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