In preparation for the beginning of construction on the Oak Park Properties, the Pleasant Hill Library will permanently close on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 at 6 p.m.
On March 10, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approved the Oak Park Properties Specific Plan. The project, which encompasses 15 acres at 1700 and 1750 Oak Park Boulevard ‐ is four projects in one.
The project will include a new library building, new sports fields; 34 single‐family homes; and a greatly improved Monticello Avenue as well as the adjacent section of Oak Park Boulevard.
Due to the current Health Order to shelter in place, all Contra Costa County Library locations remain closed until further notice.
20 comments
Will Pleasant Hill just be without a library now?
The article said that the “project will include a new library building”
Please correct this to say the CURRENT LOCATION is permanently closing on June 3rd!!! You are incorrectly making it sound like Pleasant Hill is losing their library completely, which is FALSE.
Did you not read the whole thing? Project will include a new library building.
Pleasant Hill will be without a library for many years.
This is a travesty! Our Board of Supervisors has decided to renege on the original promise to maintain the old Library while the new one was being built, but no, they believe that now is the time to sell the existing property and garner “huge” profits from the sale, well, Corona virus may have put the kibosh on that little scheme as little may be done in the construction field. However we may be without a library for a longer period of time due to the same facts! Shameful!
As to continuing library services we have been assured that Pleasant Hill library activities will be served at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center. HA! Parking on many days is at a premium. The Senior Center, already busy with activities (normally when Corona is not in existence), in my opinion could hardly be expected to handle the increased traffic of Library patrons as well.
What a mess this is going to be! Of course, the Pleasant Hill Senior Center is also closed due to the Pandemic, so, again, no library services.
Thanks Board of Supervisors. I will remember your actions come election time. Poor planning, poor results, inconvenience to patrons, inconvenience to Library patrons. Nothing good will come of this and we wont have a library for God knows how long. AAARRGH!!!!
….. wishing the staff maximum success at securing books, furnishings, etc. during this difficult (but worthwhile) transition period….. however long it might be. I so wish Concord would build a new library!
And thanks going out to all the “Friends of Library” support chapters of our county system.
Karen Mitchoff (Board of Supervisors) is the master of bait and switch. She will promise the residents of this county things to get projects approved and then goes back on those promises. She values money over people. She screwed up the library and made the Pleasant Hill BART station feel like a communist train station with an entirely too large apartment building right up against it. She needs to go, we need to make sure it happens.
It sucks, yes. But we’ve known about this for quite some time. There were many efforts to get it opened longer and it failed. And with covid, it may as well be closed. The new library will be wonderful (and the new housing and sport fields) and We have a lot to look forward to! Chin up everyone! ❤️
Back in the day, they library had a vault filled with historical local treasures. I hope the historical society will take those items under it’s wing and preserve them. I remember when the library opened in August of 1964. The excavators at the site on Oak Park Boulevard found fossilized dinosaur remains in the trenches, down about four feet. Meanwhile over at 40 Gregory Lane, an indian (first peoples) burial ground was unearthed. Lots of history around here folks…lots.
The library will be closed for a long time. Yes, they are building a new library across the street. But it would be a miracle if it were to be completed within the next 2 years (they claim it will take just 18 months). In every other location in the county, where a new library was built in a different spot, the old one stayed open while the new one was built.
There is no good reason the current library can’t stay open while they build the new one. All of the reasons provided were manufactured, except for one. Supervisor Mitchoff wants the money from the sale of the land now, not in 2 years. Even though today, because of the virus and the economy, the land may be worth less than it will be in 2 years.
So many things might delay these 3 projects. The Rec & Park District did not pass Measure A so they may not have money to buy their 5 acres or build their part of the project. Sales tax revenues are way down because of the virus, and may not return to full levels for at least a year. Sales tax from Measure K is paying for the library. The Board of Supervisors chose to ignore the huge public outcry against this closure.
the county is giving the land to the city for FREE, that’s never been done before. there was a presentation about this in march. if the city paid for the land, perhaps the library could have stayed open. that’s also why other libraries stayed open while new ones were being built. as a resident, I’m glad we aren’t footing the bill for the land – the cost of the new building is already MILLIONS higher than it was originally estimated at.
my projection: the library will somehow be moved to the end of the project(s). Project related cost over runs and increased materials cost will result; once again, in a library that is far less than promised and expected.
How many people actually use a library anymore
You would be surprised. The Pleasant Hill library is busy all the time.
@mark
Try visiting a library some time to find out how many people “actually” use the libraries. For those who spend all their time looking at their phone, on Facebook, watching tv, etc, finding good books to READ is what makes a library essential. And, if your local library doesn’t have a particular title, you’ll usually find it on LINK, an affiliation of many libraries throughout the state. I once had a book delivered from Las Vegas, another from Modoc County. Great system.
Clayton, Walnut Creek, and Lafayette all have been very busy any time I have visited. The computers get almost constant use, they have DVDs for checkout in addition to the wide array of books. They offer a multitude of services which are very helpful. They are an essential and valuable asset to the community. It’s the reason I can’t understand why Concord has not built a new one. The Casa Correo Post Office could use a new, streamlined building, also.
Libraries are an essential and valuable asset to the community. With all due respect to the residents of Concord, if Concord builds a new library, it will benefit the homeless more than the residents. The residents don’t hang out there day and night.
When I was a kid, on two Saturdays a month in Summer, our mother would drop us three boys off at the library when they opened and picked us up when they closed. We spent the entire day reading and listening to music. She got a day off from three boys and we all developed a life-long love of reading and a curiosity about various areas of study. Libraries have their place, even today.
Always smelled like dusty, stale papers in there.
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