HUNTINGTON BEACH : $700,000 Donated for Library Project

Library fund-raisers handed over checks totaling $700,000 to city officials Monday night to help pay for the current expansion of the Huntington Beach Library, which will include a children’s wing, a 320-seat community theater and space for nearly 200,000 additional books.

The Library Patrons Foundation donated $450,000 and the Friends of the Library $250,000.

Nearly $400,000 of the foundation’s donation was bequeathed by Tabby Brock, a Huntington Beach Library patron and former Friends of the Library board member who died in December, 1988.

In addition to the $250,000, the Friends of the Library has donated more than $200,000 during the last 20 years to support library activities and programs, officials said.

The organizing committee for the Concours de Elegance, a classic car show in June, contributed $20,000. The group operates the Art and Book Store in the Central Library, holds used-book sales, conducts educational lecture programs and sponsors special events.

“This is a significant donation to help build the new children’s wing,” said library director Ron Hayden. “I don’t know of any other library support groups in any other city that have donated as much.”

Hayden said the donations are even more noteworthy in that they’re not pledges “but cash on hand.”

Construction began March 2 on the $8.5-million expansion project at the Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave. When completed in the fall of 1993, it will have a technology center, a gift store and redesigned parking in addition to the children’s wing and theater.