New Library Design Takes Shape, Life-Sized Horse Lamp Planned

Plans for a new Diamond Bar Library are taking shape, with a ranch theme that hearkens back to simpler times.

In a presentation Thursday night to the city's parks and recreation commission, Assistant City Manager David Doyle provided an overview of progress on the plans and the project that is running alongside designs for a new city hall that will occupy the same building, which the city purchased in September of 2010.

Plans for the new city hall, located across the street from the , involve housing the new library on the ground floor and city offices on the second floor.

The plan more than doubles the size of the — from 9,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet — and would offer over 200 parking spaces to the current library's 32.

The new plan would also mean a move for the Friends of the Diamond Bar Library, which operates a used book store called  that benefits the library.

The layout

The library entrance would be at the back of the new building, with an entrance to city hall facing Copley Drive.

The new plan includes a full children's library, a reading garden, and a dedicated reference and technology area.

Patrons enter into what designers are calling the Promenade — a long, mostly open space that is adjacent to the new books and media section, a young adults reading area, the Friends of the Library bookstore, and the periodicals section.

The children's library will occupy nearly one fourth of the total space and is located at the back of the library.

Assistant City Manager Doyle said that a reading garden adjacent to the entryway will be enclosed by a 6-8 foot wall and will offer personal outdoor reading as well as a configuration for outdoor childrens' storytime readings.

The young adult and teen reading space will be sectioned off by a perimeter of slatted wood that Doyle joked gives readers the feeling of some privacy, "but the reality is that you can see right through it," Doyle said, keeping the concerned parent in mind.

The library will share a public meeting space with the city, which would be located toward the front — or Copley Drive side — of the building on the ground floor.

The design and construction of the library and city hall are being done by the Irvine-based architecture firm LPA, Inc.

The firm, Doyle said, is also working on the library for the city of Orange and has worked on many projects throughout southern California.

The theme

Doyle said the architects are embracing a ranch theme, tugging at Diamond Bar's historical roots, but he indicated some skepticism about the extent of the outfitting.

"[The architects] are going to buy a life-size horse lamp that is on sale at Fashion Island," Doyle said. "I don't know how they are going to keep kids from climbing on it, but that's fine."

The ranch theme will carry throughout the library on signs as well as large wall graphics that can be changed out to "keep it new and creative," Doyle said.

The theme will highlight other aspects of Diamond Bar's past as well, with a bookshelf in the shape of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, the iconic building of the company that purchased the Diamond Bar Ranch in 1956 to build Diamond Bar, the first master-planned community.

Logistics

Doyle said the library currently operates with an annual expense of approximately $1 million a year, but the expansion to more than double the floor space could require one new full-time staff member and three new part-time staff members.

Cost-sharing negotiations with the county have not been finalized, but Doyle told the parks and recreation commission Thursday that, conceptually, decreased facilities costs for the county will likely offset new staffing costs.

The new library will also include self-checkout scanners to reduce additional staffing costs and meet the needs of the library's increased capacity.

Doyle said that the city is currently planning to take on costs for maintenance of the building itself, which the city now owns, and will also likely pay for utilities.

The library will also count its on Grand Avenue among its assets, Doyle said, and the sale of that building will be able to contribute to other expenses.

As for rent, Doyle said the city will likely charge the county somewhere around one dollar per year for use of the space.

Doyle said the city will move into the construction drawing phase for the new city hall pending a vote by the city council on Tuesday night.

The county Board of Supervisors will also vote Tuesday to approve a reimbursement to Diamond Bar for the cost of design plans for the library, at a cost of $330,000.

The vote by the board of supervisors would be the first formal action of the county regarding the Diamond Bar library, which Doyle said has so far only has a verbal agreement from Supervisor Don Knabe.

Doyle said that the city will hope to get full approval of the county for cost estimates for the library "maybe by early April," Doyle said, "maybe at a location where they may be pouring some wine," alluding to the