North Hills : Library’s Opening Is a Shining Moment

Less than 24 hours after a sudden storm brought rain and lightning to the San Fernando Valley, skies were bright and clear over North Hills on Friday for the opening of Los Angeles’ largest branch library.

“I love a place like this because it’s a shrine,” said KNBC-TV Channel 4 weatherman Christopher Nance, addressing several hundred people gathered outside the $5-million Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library.

City Councilman Hal Bernson, one of several speakers on hand for the inauguration ceremony, noted that the facility is the culmination of a dream that began 28 years ago when city officials purchased the property.

“To see it come into fruition is very gratifying to me,” he said. “One of the most important things we can impart to our children and future generations is knowledge.”

Funded primarily by a 1988 bond act, the 27,000-square-foot library is roughly twice the size of most Valley branches and offers a 100-seat multipurpose room, a large collection of Spanish-language materials and several computer terminals that will allow patrons to access the deep and distant reaches of the Internet.

But despite the library’s state-of-the-art features, sixth-grader Daniel A. Bentov reminded the crowd that it will also be a place where adults and children alike can feed their imaginations.

“I think that a library is a place where everybody can enjoy books like I do,” he said.

After the ribbon cutting, eager bookworms of all ages streamed into the single-story building to sample its many offerings.

In the children’s section, 8-year-old Brittany Fisk and 9-year-old Skylar Lenox roamed the aisles looking for titles on oceanography and the Amish.

“I like the architecture,” Skylar said, describing the spacious, whimsically decorated building as a relaxing “wonderland.”

Both are avid readers with several library cards. Brittany said reading is a pastime she prefers to enjoy solo, however.

“I don’t like to read with my mother,” she said, “because she always interrupts and asks questions. I can’t get into books when people do that.”