Groundbreaking of the new Library

By Diane McNutt

Mayor Diane McNutt describes what the new Library will bring to the Los Gatos community at the Groundbreaking Ceremony on June 21, 2010

After years of planning ... hoping ... dreaming ... and a lot of hard work... it is time to officially break ground for a new library for the Town of Los Gatos.

It no longer matters how long it took to get here -- or what bumps in the road we experienced on the journey.

Now is the time to celebrate ... to congratulate ... and to anticipate the next time we gather here in early 2012 to throw open the doors to a new library for our community.

Today we are breaking ground, both literally and with a deeper meaning.

When we talk about something being a groundbreaking advance we mean that it is fresh, unusual, innovative + like nothing we have experienced before. Our new library will fit that description.

Our community and the design team have spent hundreds of hours defining and describing what a library should be for Los Gatos + warm, inviting, environmentally sensitive, and distinctly beautiful inside and out.

It reflects the core values of Los Gatos in the special attention it gives to children and teens, and to the history of our town.

It will take advantage of this beautiful setting against the hillside and adjacent to Pageant Grounds Park.

It will serve our community for generations to come.

And if you have any doubts that a library will continue to be a vital community service in the 21st century, let me tell you a few things.

When people began to use the Internet as a source of information, it was an easy assumption that this could mean fewer people would go to the library.

Exactly opposite is what really has happened. Every year, visitor and circulation counts are increasing + at Los Gatos Public Library and at most every other public library in the nation.

The number of borrowers at the Los Gatos Library has increased 40% in the past 10 years and circulation increased more than 50%.

Libraries are not just buildings with books.

The collection has diversified to include more periodicals, DVDs, CDs and other materials.

It is the most popular place in town, with 600 to 800 visitors a day + that's almost a quarter of a million total for the year -- and almost as many people use the library virtually to tap into its wealth of online resources as come into the library in person.

You can access the library's comprehensive databases of information, downloadable books and other online resources any time, day or night, 365 days a year, from any computer.

But as much as we enjoy the electronic 24/7 aspect of library service, there is still no substitute for a visit to the library where there is an environment that encourages you to learn, think, create, invent and contemplate.

It is staffed with skilled and knowledgeable individuals who can help you discover new things, find answers, sort through information overload + like what do you when you get two million results when you ask Google a question.

It is a place in the community where you can be alone or connect with others, where you can feel safe and where there is always someone there to guide you.

I collect quotes about libraries, and one of my favorites is from author Germaine Greer who said:

"Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy ... The pleasure they give is steady, reliable, deep and long-lasting. In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed."

On behalf of the entire Town Council we thank each of you for sharing this vision, your patience and your support.

This library is about to become a reality because of you and for you, and we are all tremendously honored and excited to be part of this chapter of Los Gatos history. Thank you.