Envisioning a bigger and better Sebastopol library

After a year of work, the city's Ad Hoc Library committee released its first report on building a new Sebastopol Library

Is the Sebastopol Library on Bodega Avenue too small to serve Sebastopol and west county? (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

This week the city’s Ad Hoc Library Committee released its initial report on what it would take to build a bigger and better Sebastopol Library.

Library advocates say there’s no question that the library needs to be expanded. A recent Facilities Master Plan from Sonoma County Library, states, “Given the inadequacies of the existing building, it is strongly recommended that it be replaced with a larger branch of at least 20,000 square feet.”

The current building is roughly 10,000 square feet.

Sonoma County Library Erika Thibault wrote the Sebastopol City Council in April of 2023, “As you are aware, library leaders have discussed the facility issue many times over the past few years with various Sebastopol Library Commissioners, City Councilmembers, and community members. I urge you to consider our shared responsibility as part of the JPA to provide comprehensive library services to the community with adequate branch facilities, and let’s produce a practical plan together which expands or replaces this well-loved, yet inadequate branch facility for all of our library lovers.”

The city council responded to this letter by creating the Ad Hoc Library Committee and appointing Vice Mayor Stephen Zollman to the committee. That committee has spent the last year studying the library issue and plans to present their report to the city council at the May 21 city council meeting.

The 28-page report has four sections: an argument for the importance of the library, a brief history of the library, a visioning section on what kind of services the new library could offer, and a section on possible funding mechanisms.

On the importance of the library

The report begins by discussing the economic value of the library, arguing libraries generate $3-$6 in value for each dollar invested. Libraries in an urban core, like Sebastopol’s, increase traffic for local businesses as well. It also goes on to point out the value the library provides in terms of educational and professional development for library users. But a library is much more than an economic engine, the report points out—it acts as a kind of civic anchor institution. Sebastopol’s Library in particular acts as the main library for all of west county.

A brief history of the Sebastopol Library

Sebastopol’s original library, finished in 1917, was a Carnegie-funded building designed by local architect Brainerd Jones, who also designed the train station (now the West County History Museum). The neo-classical building below, which cost $7,500 to build, served as the library for the town from 1917 to 1975, when it was demolished to make way for the current building.

Sebastopol’s first library was built with a Carnegie grant in 1917. (Photo from Calisphere)

What’s a library for? Imagining the possibilities

According to the report, “The traditional impression of libraries as places for quiet reading, research and borrowing books—and of librarians as schoolmarmish shushes—is outdated, as they have changed into bustling civic centers that also provide places for quiet reading and research. In short, they are valuable community centers.”

Some of the uses imagined in the report include the following: providing resources for lifelong learning, professional and small business development; providing resources and community for seniors and youth; serving as a community gathering place; and providing technology and access to broadband. This section also envisions the library as a kind of social services hub.

Potential funding options

In general, in Sonoma County, cities provide the building for their city library, while the Sonoma County Library System supplies everything else: the books, shelving, computers and staff. With Sebastopol’s $2 million deficit, it is difficult to see how it could raise the estimated $20 million that it will cost to build a new library.

As such, the report includes a large number of potential alternative funding sources, the first being an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD). An EIFD is a special kind of financing district that captures a percentage of the increase in property taxes that result from rising property values and uses it to fund infrastructure improvements within the district. The city of Sebastopol and Sonoma County have been discussing creating an EIFD for West County, and Zollman has been adamant from the beginning that the library should be one of the beneficiaries of that EIFD. (See our article on EIFDs.)

“It is not going to be a drain on us as taxpayers,” Zollman said. “It's just simply not because we're going to be able to use [the increment from] the increased property value to pay for the project.”

Other funding mechanisms in the report include using funds from the Sonoma County Library “Measure Y” sales tax, developer fees, government debt such as bonds, co-located or joint-use libraries, public-private partnerships, as well as applying for government and foundation grants.

What happens next?

After the committee presents its report to the city council next week, Zollman said that he is going to recommend that the city renew the Ad Hoc Library committee for another year so it can move into the “feasibility planning stage.”

“Then it will be up to the full council whether they bless us to move forward or they just say that sounds nice, but you do it all on your own and don't take up any more staff time,” he said.

According to the report, this feasibility stage would include doing a community needs assessment, developing a plan for financing the project, and drafting a feasibility plan.

Ad Hoc committee member Fred Engbarth, who authored the report, said the public shouldn’t expect a complicated project like building a new library to happen overnight.

“Seven to 10 years for a building like this is usually a good estimate,” Engbarth said.

What happens in the meantime?

Sebastopol Library Branch Manager Mathew Rose praised the report, but had more immediate concerns.

“When I see that seven to 10 years’ worth of work ahead of us, I get a little panicky about how we are going to provide the services we have between now and then,” he said.

In the past Rose has requested more staff for the Sebastopol Library, but has been told by the Sonoma County Library administration that there simply wasn’t enough room in the building for more staff.

Zollman described it this way: “They wrote a letter back saying, ‘We can't provide you with more staff until you have more square footage.’ So that was just basically like a Catch 22, because we didn't have a plan or a way to pay for any of that.”

This conflict was one of the reasons for the creation of the Library Ad Hoc in the first place.

At a meeting of the Library Ad Hoc this week, committee members brainstormed other possible buildings—city hall or other nearby offices—that the library could expand into while the Ad Hoc committee continues to work on the longer-term project of building a bigger library.

Read the library report here. Vice Mayor Steven Zollman invites you to submit your comments on the report to szollman@cityofsebastopol.gov and/or come to the next city council meeting on May 21 at 6 pm at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris St., Sebastopol.