Chino Hills library moving to a bigger building
CHINO HILLS -- Residents and officials are excited about the move of the James S. Thalman Library, one of the county's top-circulating libraries, into a larger building that will accommodate more books and possibly more programs.
The city's new 28,000-square-foot library, three times the size of the current building, is set to open Jan. 26 at the new Chino Hills Civic Center near the northeast corner of Peyton and Boy's Republic drives, a short distance from the 71 Freeway.
The city's current library, which opened at a small building at the city's old civic center on Grand Avenue in 1992, no longer has enough space for its books, library officials said.
Community demand for its popular reading and learning programs is also high.
"Right now we're out of space for everything," said Patty Diaz, the library's branch manager.
"We're out of space for materials, for seating space in the library and for the programs."
She added that officials are considering expanding programming after the library opens in the new building.
"We currently have several story-telling programs, a baby-learning program and a toddler learning program," Diaz said.
"They've been popular. What we would like to do is expand them and have more sessions to accommodate residents," she added.
Future operation expansion details for the new library are still being determined by county officials, with much of the planning tied to state lawmakers getting the state budget passed, Diaz said.
Still, the library does plan on providing more books and more computers for residents when it reopens at its new location sometime in January, she said.
New books are being ordered for the children's section, said Mary Ellen Bohinksi, the library's children's specialist. Bohinksi also said the new library will feature self-checkout kiosks for patrons.
The current library sees about 20,000 people per month, but Diaz said she expects to see twice that number when the new library opens next year.
Assistant City Manager Kathy Gotch agreed, saying the new library is expected to serve about 300,000 people a year.
"There's no way to tell right now, but with the more prominent location, and where it's situated, next to (Ayala) High School, I expect twice (the current number)," she said.
Shaheen Adamjee of Chino Hills said the additional space at the new library will be welcome.
"Hopefully, there will be more books and more computers," she said.
Becky Salgado of Diamond Bar said, "This (current library) is awfully small here, and hopefully, there will be more programs for the kids to accommodate more children."
The new library sits just south of the new City Hall, which opens in November and is east of the new Chino Hills Sheriff's Station, which opened last month. The cost is $10 million and is part of the city's $54 million civic center project.
-neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com
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