• "If the old model of the library was the inward-focused community 'reading room,' the new one is more like a community 'front porch.'" (Project for Public Spaces, Libraries that Matter, http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/april2007/libraries_that_matter)

• The new La Mesa Library excels as our community front porch, largely due to the clear design vision used to enhance this role, and augment the library system’s user-friendly strategies.

• Exceptional lighting, comfortable furniture, a soothing color palate, bookstore-like displays, and strategic, flexible design work together to create a warm, inviting ambiance and support the many varied activities that occur within the space. County policy is to wait a few months putting anything on the walls, but future art will enhance this further.

• Evidence of its success is in the numbers: The library opened mid June, and circulation jumped 40.82% this July compared to the previous July. • An open plan makes it easy to view and locate what one requires from the entry, whether it be stacks, assistance, computers, a place to work or read, audiobooks and DVDs, the Friends of the La Mesa Library bookstore, or the restrooms.

• Circulation functions (reserves, assisted or self-check out and returns) are strategically located in or near the entry so it’s convenient if you need to run in and out quickly…but you’ll need will power not to linger.

• Furniture is stylish yet comfortable and practical. Upholstered chairs are placed throughout. Shelves have chic, self-contained lighting so it’s easy to read titles. Tables have a central conduit, which can be opened for electronic access. And displays throughout encourage one to browse, and maybe even try something new.

• In two central areas, tables are clustered for common activities, such as the popular chess, music and educational programs, while tables and chairs along the outer windows create quieter, intimate spaces that take advantage of the ample, natural light.

• Teens’ and Children’s’ nooks are accessorized with age-appealing posters, pillows, rugs, games and toys that encourage social interaction - a library experience a far cry from the days of whisper and tiptoe. Placing shelves around the periphery (instead of the traditional rows) allows flexibility to rearrange these areas as needed for a well-rounded calendar of youth activities. Furniture is appropriately scaled; low bookshelves under the windows provide eyelevel viewing for the youngest patrons, while taller shelving gives advanced readers a sense of accomplishment. Allocating teens their own nook speaks to adolescent independence and desire to hang out together, and feels truly like the teen club that inhabits it.

• The new building’s interior design naturally integrates the County Library’s cutting edge computer system. There is more dedicated space and more general use computers, including one for easy sign up reservations, and now there are carrels for privacy. The online card catalog links with libraries at SDSU, UCSD, USD and CSU San Marcos as well as inter-library searches, and some computers are set aside for on-line searches and requests, which generate e-mail notices when items arrive at the branch or come due.

• The Friends of the La Mesa Library seamlessly refinished and adapted shelving from the old library to feel new and built in while still being eco- and budget friendly, in harmony with their non-profit status. Their plan is to build book carrels on wheels to display items in the middle of the room, which can be wheeled back to accommodate library programs during off bookstore hours - the first such cooperative arrangement in the County system.

• La Mesa prides itself in being a Mayberry-like, hometown community, but if I had to sum up our city in a phrase, it would be “understated sophistication.” In this sense, our new library not only serves as our front porch, it also embodies the spirit of our community.

• (To read the City's newsletter article about the opening, see 2008 Aug FOCUS.pdf at http://www.cityoflamesa.com/Archive.asp?AMID=34&Type=Recent .)

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