The remodeled Malibu Public Library will be one of the first uniquely themed libraries in the area, reflecting the city’s beach culture in both its decor and design features.
By Paul Sisolak / Special to The Malibu Times
The Library Task Force met this week to discuss plans for welcoming book fairs, guest authors, and local artists to the much-anticipated new Malibu Library building when it opens April of next year.
The ideas discussed Tuesday are part of an ongoing effort to make the new Malibu Library one of the first uniquely themed libraries in the area, reflecting the city’s beach culture in both its decor and design features.
“The way it combines all the elements of Malibu, it’ll be a great new asset,” said Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who sits on the library fundraising taskforce.
The library’s floor plans, unveiled recently at a city council meeting, reveal that each room of the new library will share a unifying theme of surfing culture, nature and Malibu history through a series of designs and artwork.
Renovations, which have been underway since September of last year, are slated to include a number of changes to the existing library, the first since it opened more than 41 years ago.
Changes to the library came about after Ulich, in 2004, discovered that close to $500,000 in property taxes levied annually from local residents wasn’t going toward the Malibu Library, but to other libraries within Los Angeles County. A public outcry prompted county officials to divert those tax dollars back to the city, which helped launch the library renewal project. Part of the agreement with the county included a July 2008 memorandum approving $3.6 million from the county to perform some interior and exterior improvements to the building. It costs $1.2 million to operate the existing library.
The $5.7 million renovation project is the first to fall within guidelines of the LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) certification program through its environmental theme and sustainable design and construction.
The library’s proposed redesign includes a new children’s area that will highlight an aquatic theme, adorned by a relief of a lighthouse, with tables and chairs with cutouts and shapes of ocean life. A large porcelain mosaic will also feature prominently.
The teen services area will pay homage to Malibu’s world-famous surf culture with pictures of famous local wave riders, as well as three surfboards hanging from a large skylight. Ulich said a popular idea among the task force is to conduct a call for artists to submit their own surfboard creations, which will be rotated in the teen section each year on Earth Day. The Harry Barovsky Youth Commission will select the library’s original surfboards from teen Malibu artists.
The library will also have an enlarged community room with wood paneling resembling the interior of a horse stable, to recall Malibu’s rich equestrian history. Reflections of the city’s past will be included in the library entryway and lobby, as well, with restored photos of Malibu’s founders, and a large replica of a rug from the original Adamson House. Technology won’t be ignored with the installation of new computer stations, including a separate section in the teen room.
Ulich said that she hopes the new library will, above all, spark a renewed interest in literacy. She said the “SOS” theme of sustainability, ocean and surf is hoped to spark interest among local residents in the same manner that the new West Hollywood library spoke to an important demographic by allotting a portion of its collection to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature.
“It’d be great if this sparks interest in people renewing their library cards,” she said.
Ulich said the task force has started a donation drive to raise $500,000 to complete the project. The money would go toward installation of solar panels and an outdoor reading porch that would overlook Legacy Park.
Donations can be sent to the City of Malibu Library Renewal Project, 23815 Stuart Ranch Rd., Malibu, CA 90265-4861 or online at www.malibucity.org.