BREA : New, Larger Library Being Considered

A bigger county library with better facilities and expanded programs is being considered for the downtown area.

City and the county officials said they are looking at the possibility of constructing a larger library at the western end of Birch Street to provide a “civic presence” to city’s downtown.

In a report to the City Council last week, City Manager Frank Benest said the new library is needed as an “anchor to attract people during the daytime to the downtown and help animate” the area.

“In addition to drawing customers to the downtown, the library would provide a civic presence,” Benest said.

The downtown area, which dates to the early 1900s, is undergoing a massive redevelopment. Grading is expected to start next month for a proposed 50-acre residential-commercial project that will include a shopping complex at Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway.

In addition, there are plans to build homes that local artists could rent or buy and shops and cafes that would encourage people to walk and browse, as in the traditional main streets of small towns.

Benest said that a theater complex is being planned at the eastern end of Birch Street and Brea Boulevard. The proposed library would be a natural anchor for the western end, he said.

At the same time, Benest said, the new library would solve the problem of cramped conditions at the current county library in the Civic and Cultural Center, which houses City Hall offices, the Police Department, the Brea Gallery, the Curtis Theater and the Brea Chamber of Commerce.

Benest said the old library, which has about 10,000 square feet of space, has a very small community meeting room and lacks space for storage and shelves for more books and other materials.

Further, there is inadequate parking and no space for a book store for the Friends of the Library, Benest said. The facility offers only limited space for children’s programs and activities, he said.

“We are really small for this community,” Brea Branch Librarian Emily J. Moore said. “We’re not in a high-profile location right now, there is no signage to indicate where we are and parking is horrendous.”

Moore said that, however, the project is still in the talking stages.

Money is available for building a bigger library, according to Benest. The Redevelopment Agency has funds set aside for a community facility within the downtown area, he said.

Helen Lotos of the Orange County Public Library Services said county library officials have expressed enthusiasm for the project.

In a letter to Benest early this month, Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez said that because of current budgetary problems, county funds cannot be committed to the project. But he said, “we are supportive of this idea.”