California: “Palo Alto Puts Finishing Touches On New Flagship Library” & Video Tour

A “soft opening” of the new 56,332-square-foot Mitchell Park Library and Community Center is scheduled for December 6, 2014.
From the Palo Alto Weekly:

It’s been a tough slog. The opening will be more than two-and-a-half years after the initial deadline. The budget is more than $10 million above what Palo Alto was hoping to pay when it signed the construction contract in 2009, though it remains well within the bounds of the library bond voters approved in 2008. And the slog isn’t completely over, given that the city remains locked in a legal battle with Flintco Pacific, the contractor that Palo Alto fired in January after months of disagreements about rising costs, poor work quality and insufficient manpower at the Middlefield Road site.
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At more than 40,000 square feet, the library is far bigger than any other branch and about four times the size of the old Mitchell Park Library. The first floor includes a program room capable of accommodating 100 people, smaller rooms for teens to study in and a huge “Kids Place” that includes a patio, a kitchenette and the glowing storytime nook.
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There is also a computer lab where young residents will be able to reserve a machine on a first-come, first-served basis.
Two more computer labs are available upstairs, though these are not limited to youth. The rooms were funded by local Google employees. One was sponsored by a group called Palo Alto Googlers. The other bears the name of Larry Page, the company’s co-founder and himself a local resident. Otherwise, the upstairs area looks more like a standard modern library, with an open layout, study areas, magazine racks and bookshelves galore.

Read the Complete Article (1288 Words)
Learn More About the New Facility (via PA Public Library Web Site)

See Also: More Video of the New Facility

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries