THOUSAND OAKS : Library to Open at Temporary Site

A month after closing its earthquake-damaged facility on Janss Road and relocating its entire collection, the Thousand Oaks Library will reopen Monday in the old city hall building at 2400 Willow Lane.

“It’s gone very very smoothly,” library Deputy Director Steve Brogden said of the massive relocation effort. “We have very experienced movers and a very hard-working staff.”

Repairs are scheduled to begin this month and be completed by next spring. Library officials hope to return to the Janss Road site by May.

“We are thinking of a range from seven months to a year,” he said. “It will just depend on how fast the construction work goes.”

The Thousand Oaks Library suffered $2.5 million in damage during the Northridge earthquake in January, 1994. The building needs a new ceiling, lighting fixtures and carpet.

City officials voted to relocate the library’s extensive collection of 290,000 books, magazines and videos to another site to hasten repairs. During the monthlong move to Willow Lane, the library operated out of its small Newbury Park branch.

Surprisingly, library usage did not decline during that time, Brogden said. “There was one Monday when we had 2,000 people over there,” he said. “We must have violated some fire codes.”

Hours at the Willow Lane site will be the same as at Janss Road, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.