The El Cerrito New Library Campaign Committee has scheduled two community meetings in August. The purpose of the meetings is to solicit the community’s thoughts and suggestions about replacing the existing El Cerrito library. Both meetings will be held at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Avenue in El Cerrito.

The staff at the current El Cerrito library does an excellent job serving the community from an outdated facility. Computers, e-books, automated checkout, wi-fi, and other modern services are all available. But a larger, more modern library and learning center would better serve the community and be a focal point of activity in town. The current library was built in 1949 and was remodeled in 1960.

The discussion points at the two meetings will be essentially the same so one need not attend both meetings. The first meeting will be held in the Library at 7 PM on Thursday, August 2, 2012. The second meeting will be held in the Library at 5:30 PM on Saturday, August 18, 2012. Among the topics on which the Committee invites public comment are:

• Do we need a new Library?
• What features should a new Library offer?
• How do we select a site for a Library?
• Should a new Library be combined with other facilities?
• What services that the current Library doesn’t offer should a new Library offer?
• How do we organize the community to effectively campaign for a new Library?

Comments on all aspects of the library are welcome. The goal of the meetings is to learn what the community thinks and wants, rather than to establish processes that will drive where, when, and what kind of library will be built.

The El Cerrito New Library Campaign Committee is a group of El Cerrito residents working to solicit input from the community about a new library; explain the benefits of replacing the existing library with a modern facility; and build support for a new library. The members of the Committee are Amalia Cunningham, Grace MacNeill, Al Miller, Tom Panas, Gary Pokorny, Steven Poulos, and Amy Rogers. Feel free to contact any of the Committee members or any members of the City Council to share with them your thoughts about a new library.

For more information about the meetings please contact Tom Panas at (510) 526-7507 or send an email to newelcerritolibrary@gmail.com. Please join us on either August 2 or August 18!

Updated: See El Cerrito Patch’s article about our meeting on August 2.