DESIGN : Next Chapter in Libraries : Three long-delayed Valley branches, each tailored to the area it will serve, will open this year.

The vacant lot at Victory Boulevard and Platt Avenue was small and oddly shaped.

But, back in 1967 when city officials purchased the land, their studies indicated that the westernmost San Fernando Valley needed only a small branch library. The triangular plot tucked against a concrete wash would suffice.

Then the money for construction failed to materialize and the project was put on hold--for 28 years. In the meantime, the Valley’s population grew dramatically.

“The library that was supposed to be 4,500 square feet now had to be 12,000 square feet,” said Fontayne Holmes, assistant director of branch libraries. “All of it had to go on that little piece of land. That was the challenge we gave to the architects.”

The result will be unveiled Saturday, when the Platt Branch Library in Woodland Hills opens nearly three decades after it was originally announced.

Two other Valley branches will follow later this year. Like Platt, they were conceived in the late 1960s only to languish in an era of budget cuts.

If there is a silver lining to this delay, it is that all the libraries feature design innovations not prevalent 30 years ago. The following is a brief description of what patrons can expect when Platt, the Mid Valley Regional Branch Library in North Hills and the Porter Ranch Branch Library open:

Platt Branch Library

To fit the library on such a small piece of land, architects employed a saw-toothed design, angling the building close to the street and leaving space for parking.

Then they took this necessarily jagged outline and turned it into a design advantage, running a serpentine twist, accentuated by raised skylights, through the center of the structure.

“We played that soft form off the rest of the building,” said Stephen Finney, an architect with Charles Walton Associates in Glendale. “So we had an interplay of two kinds of shapes and that made for architectural tension.”

The result is startling. Finney and his compatriots hope it gets noticed so close to an intersection teeming with retail signage.

“We’re competing against a Kentucky Fried Chicken and strip malls,” Finney said. “We also know that most people will be driving by. When they are going along at 40 miles per hour, we have only a couple of seconds to grab their attention.”

Platt must also have something to offer once people stop and go inside. Finney--whose firm has designed libraries throughout Southern California--has included a computer area and a reading patio. He has paid particular attention to the key element of any library: light.

“It’s gorgeous,” said Anne Olivier, a librarian at the new facility. “There’s an airy feeling.”

Mid Valley Regional Branch Library

This sprawling facility stands on what used to be a soccer field along Nordhoff Street in North Hills. Scheduled to open by year’s end, it will feature a ceramic tile pyramid at its center and a clock tower nearer the street.

Regional libraries, by definition, offer an expanded staff and collection. Stretching over 26,000 square feet, Mid Valley Regional will be the largest branch in the city. Coupled with the largest parking lot of any library, it represents a striking example of the library system’s modern strategy for attracting patrons.

“The concept when the branch system started was that people should be able to walk to their nearest library,” Holmes said.

Older libraries, therefore, were built close together with little if any parking.

“Then the automobile became king in Los Angeles,” the assistant director said. “People want to drive to the library. They want to park. They want it to be convenient.”

Inside Mid Valley Regional, the designers--Killefer Flammang Purtill Architects of Santa Monica--have incorporated a glassed-in reading area for adults and a giant tepee in the children’s section. Such playful elements address the changing nature of libraries.

“They don’t want to be just passive warehouses for books,” said George Needham, executive director of the Public Library Assn., a Chicago organization that lobbies for and advises libraries nationwide. “Libraries should be places where you can go to do homework or write your resume. They need to become community centers.”

Porter Ranch Branch Library

When this angular, brick library opens in early summer it will, like Platt, offer a core of standard books and plenty of empty shelves. From there, the collection will grow according to the desires of the community.

“People come in and ask for different types of books and our librarians have the autonomy to purchase those kinds of materials,” Holmes said. “But the librarians don’t just stay in the library. They go to schools, to chambers of commerce and homeowners groups, to businesses.”

The West Valley Regional Library in Reseda, for instance, has accumulated a large collection of auto-repair manuals. In North Hollywood, amid the television and film industry, the library offers a variety of entertainment, educational and instructional videotapes.

“Gone are the days when libraries would set up their branches with a cookie cutter, making each one standard and similar,” Needham said. “Now the trend is to make each library fit the community. That means the librarians have to be attuned to the community and they have to be willing to go to bat with the administration.”

The Porter Ranch facility will benefit from on-line catalogues being installed in all Los Angeles libraries. Using computer terminals, patrons can locate and request any book in the system. At the same time, Porter Ranch librarians can chart specific patterns of interest as they arise.

“Computers won’t mean the end of libraries. They actually help make the library easier to use,” Needham said. “Besides, people will always want books. You can’t curl up in bed with the new Sue Grafton software.”

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WHERE AND WHEN

Location: Platt Branch Library, 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills.

Hours: 12:30 to 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Free parking.

Opening Celebration: 1 p.m. Saturday.