Burbank library officials to gather input about possible replacement of Central Library
Burbank library officials are ramping up efforts to get a replacement Central Library despite a lack of progress on the project for many years.
Two community meetings — from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and again from 7 to 8:30 pm. — on Feb. 6 at the Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., will gather input from the public on what they would like to have in the facility if a new one can be built.
Elizabeth Goldman, Burbank’s library services director, said on Jan. 21 that those who can’t make it to the meetings will have opportunities throughout February to provide input on the matter.
She said the public will be able to submit comments at burbanklibrary.org or at a kiosk in the Central Library.
Additionally, Goldman said she is working to host focus groups from different segments of the community, such as teens and those in the city’s workforce.
Talks of upgrading the 57-year-old library have been going on for over 30 years, but progress has yet to be made.
Burbank’s facilities master plan in 1989 called for an upgrade of the Central Library. It was 26 years old at the time, Goldman said.
In 1992, the city decided to upgrade the interior of the library but not much else. That was the last time the facility saw any major improvements, Goldman said.
Then, in the early 2000s, many in the community recognized a need to improve local libraries. The Buena Vista Branch Library reopened in 2002 after a major overhaul, and city officials said they wanted to upgrade the other two libraries in the community.
So Measure L, a library bond initiative, was placed on the ballot and approved by 68% of Burbank voters in February 2003.
The bond authorized the use of $14 million if the city received a matching grant from the state, but Burbank’s application for that funding was denied, Goldman said.
“Those state-matching funds no longer exist,” she said. “The state hasn’t funded library construction in over a decade, so if we have to build a new library, it has to be locally funded.”
This past November, Goldman updated the City Council on the state of libraries around the world, saying that those facilities have become more than a place for literary education.
Goldman said new libraries incorporate public gathering places and private work rooms and are shifting their focus to digital and technology literacy.
Earlier this month, the Central Library opened its Spark! Digital Media Lab, a technologically advanced room in the facility that provides the public access to various hardware and software needed in movie and sound production, video and photo editing as well as 3D engineering.
Goldman said she is hoping to ride the momentum generated by the new media lab toward getting a new Central Library built.
Additionally, a new funding source — the city’s Measure P sales tax — could help pay for a new facility, but it would be up to city leaders to determine whether there is an immediate need for a new Central Library.
“We can access those funds, but every [department] wants those funds,” Goldman said. “There’s just a lot of stuff on the [city’s] list.”
Although it remains a question whether city officials will give the green light for a replacement Central Library, Goldman said she remains optimistic it can be done in the next decade.
“It’s foiled many library directors in the past, but I’ve seen tremendous support for libraries and all city services in this community,” she said.
