The City of El Cerrito, BART, and Holliday Development, the private investor planning the mixed-use project at the Plaza BART station, have now decided on a great location for the new El Cerrito Library that will be a part of that project.

The Library, which had been considered for several locations in the project, is now proposed to be at the northeast corner of Liberty and Fairmount streets, directly across the street from the Starbucks coffee shop at El Cerrito Plaza.

This location promises to be a very good one for the Library as it will be at street level on a busy corner between the Plaza shops and the BART station itself.

The site plan below shows where the new Library will be.

At this prominent location, anyone walking between the BART station and the Plaza stores will pass directly by the new Library. The Library will be at street level and, with generous windows to display the activities going on in the Library, will be inviting and easily accessible.

The El Cerrito Library Foundation will have large-scale plans for all to see at the City of El Cerrito & worldOne 4th of July Festival and more news about progress on the new Library.

We will keep you up to date on developments with occasional news reports from the Foundation. If you know of others who might be interested in keeping track of this project, direct them to our Foundation web site, look for the heading “SIGN UP TO RECEIVE UPDATES FROM ECLF,” to sign up for breaking news as our Library project gathers momentum.

The El Cerrito Library Foundation invites you to Celebrate Earth Day 2023 at the El Cerrito Library 6510 Stockton Avenue on April 15, 2023 from 9:00 am to Noon. Then volunteers are encouraged to proceed to the Community Center at 7007 Moeser lane for a free Appreciation Lunch from 12 noon to 1:30 pm. You can find the latest information on the City’s website at – https://www.el-cerrito.org/645/Earth-Day-Celebration

All are welcome. Young children please bring a parent or two. Closed toe shoes and gloves are recommended for all.

We hope to see you at Earth Day at the Library!

Questions? Contact ECLF at info@eclibraryfoundation.org

During repeated power outages this past winter as fierce storms blew down power lines or trees landed on them, thrusting neighborhoods into darkness, our library served as a refuge and resource for many patrons.

A recent posting from NextDoor illustrates this somewhat unusual library service:

Shout out to the El Cerrito Public Library!

We lost power for 48 hours this weekend and I needed to recharge devices and go online for work. The library had a great environment for this with power strips, Wi-Fi, and desk space. It was relatively quiet and the best part was eavesdropping on the visitors to the front desk, who were happily acquiring new library cards, interacting with the busy and professional librarians, and checking out books.

It made me happy to be a card-carrying member of the library!

-Susan M.

Our current library is well suited to provide this service during winter storms.

However, during summer heat waves, our old, outmoded library that does not have an air conditioning system cannot provide similar refuge. Nor can it provide respite from smoke inhalation during firestorms.

This is why a new twenty-first century library for El Cerrito, equipped with a modern heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system would extend this valuable respite-service into a year-around benefit for our community.

Then we could say, year-around, in a safe, comfortable environment:

WE HELP BRING PEOPLE

AND IDEAS TOGETHER

The El Cerrito Library Foundation invites you to Celebrate Earth Day 2023 at the El Cerrito Library on April 15, 2023. (Note, the National Earth Day is on the 22nd, but El Cerrito is celebrating it on the 15th.)

The ECLF will be hosting an Earth Day event at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Avenue, from 9:00 am to 12:00.  Then volunteers are encouraged to proceed to the Community Center at 7007 Moeser lane for a free Appreciation Lunch from 12 noon to 1:30 pm. You can find the latest information on the City’s website at – https://www.el-cerrito.org/645/Earth-Day-Celebration

This traditional ECLF event involves a general sprucing up of the exterior grounds around the library building including:

• Clearing the ivy from the building, side walk, trees, & bushes
• Spreading mulch into the areas from which the ivy is removed
• Trimming and weeding the native plant garden on the west side of the building
• Picking up trash and garbage from the library property

During the Covid Emergency, participation in this event was restricted to ECLF Board Members and family members. With the expiration of this emergency, anyone wanting to help is welcome.

Closed toe shoes and gloves are recommended for all. A limited number of gloves will be available for participants use.

We hope to see you at Earth Day at the Library!

Questions? Contact ECLF at info@eclibraryfoundation.org