Library looks back on 100 years Library looks back on 100 years (April 29, 2005)

Celebrating a community gathering place

By Jon Wiener

As the Mountain View Public Library kicks off its centennial celebration this week, one important truth remains unchanged. Despite all the new technology, the new materials, and the new services provided there, the library is still a community gathering place.

"People like to come to the building, they like to sit and look out at the park, they like to have study spaces," said library services director Karen Burnett. "That's a huge part of what we're about."

Since an ambitious city project culminated in 1997 with the unveiling of the sparkling new 60,000 square-foot library building at 585 Franklin St., technology has been the driving force in many of the improvements in service. Self-service checkout and digital catalogs have become the norm, and patrons can now take advantage of wireless Internet service, Smart Cards to access on-line accounts or any number of computer education classes.

It's a far cry from 1904, when a local women's group was selling ice cream and clam chowder to raise money to open the city's first public library. It began with 42 donated books and a budget of $100. According to Burnett, more than 20 percent of the 1.3 million items checked out each year are DVDs. The 2-year-old Teen Zone features a student-mentoring program and is still bustling every day after school gets out.

More changes are in store for the next 100 years, once again driven by technology. Radio frequency identification tags will allow readers to check out stacks of books with one swipe over an antenna. Conveyor belts and automatic book sorting will eliminate some costly labor, and, Burnett hopes, allow her to beef up a materials budget that currently sits at less than 10 percent of overall annual expenses.

Even the resurrection of traditional library services once victimized by budget cuts owes itself in some way to technological advancement. Google has pledged $200,000 to restore the bookmobile services later this year.

"I think it's the most exciting time for libraries ever," said Burnett, who has been a librarian for 34 years. "I think that libraries are still one of the really high value resources in any community."

To celebrate the occasion, the library is displaying historic photos in the main lobby and inviting residents to submit their stories for a memory book, accessible at the library or on-line. Reference librarian Candace Bowers said she is planning a series of talks by local authors and special story time sessions for alumni who have since grown up. Commemorative items are for sale in the book shop, and on Sept. 24 the community will be invited for cake.

All of the events have one main theme, said Burnett: "The library is still an important community destination. It's a place to come to."
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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