By Lookout Staff

August 20, 2010 – Earlier this year, the City Council unanimously decided to move forward with plans to construct a public library at Virginia Avenue Park. The 7,500-square-foot facility will be the first public library in the neighborhood, meeting a demand from the 1983 Pico Neighborhood Community Plan.

Now, City officials want input from the members of public, who can either attend a series of workshops or complete an online survey available in Engklish or Spanish. To take the survey visit http://www.smpl.org/pico/TakeOurSurvey.htm

The workshops will take place at Virginia Avenue Park’s Thelma Terry Community Meeting Room, 2200 Virginia Avenue, Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. on September 11, October 9, November 6 and December 4.

Pico Neighborhood residents have long advocated for a branch library, even though they live less than a mile from the existing Fairview Branch Library at 2101 Ocean Park Boulevard, which opened in 1956.

“Some community members feel Pico Boulevard represents a cultural divide that keeps residents away from that branch,” staff wrote in its report. “Heavy traffic on Pico Boulevard also contributes to a reluctance to cross to the south side and a concern for child safety.”

The need for a branch library in the Pico Neighborhood first came up in the 1983 Pico Neighborhood Community Plan, “which suggested combining existing private sector commercial activities with public uses to include a library and a post office,” staff said.

The idea wasn’t considered when Virginia Avenue Park was being planned from 2001 to 2005. Instead, the City focused on improving its branch libraries and building the new Main Library.

In 2008, the idea finally gathered momentum when a library became part of the proposed demolition and reconstruction of the Edison Language Academy. But “school officials were reluctant to have any portion of the school property open to the public during school hours,” and the idea died.