New Yorba Linda library and arts center applies finishing touches for Nov. 30 opening
Visitors walk between the new Yorba Linda Public Library, right, and Cultural Arts Center, left, on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Crews this week worked quickly to fit the Storytime Theater doors, touch up paint here and there and program lights so Yorba Linda’s new library and cultural arts center can finally open its doors on Monday, Nov. 30.
The two-building civic campus, constructed at the city’s former “strawberry field” property on Lakeview Avenue near Lemon Drive, is expected to become a public hub to complement the year-old Town Center retail plaza across the street.
Visitors tour the lobby of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors tour the upper floor of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors pass by the book stacks as they tour the upper floor of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors look at the books as they tour the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors tour the book stacks at new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Storytime Theater of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Community Room of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The DIY Studio of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
One of the lights in the Children’s and 6-7-8 Lounge of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Teen Loft of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Teen Loft of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Dance Studio of Yorba Linda’s new Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors watch video as they tour Yorba Linda’s new Virginia De Land theater in the Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors tour Yorba Linda’s new Virginia De Land theater in the Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
An outdoor seating area between the new Yorba Linda Public Library and Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A lamp hangs between the new Yorba Linda Public Library and Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visitors pass by a sculpture of a child reading a book outside the new 45,000-square-foot Yorba Linda Public Library and Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The exterior panels of the new Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The new 45,000-square-foot Yorba Linda Public Library on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Yorba Linda’s new Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, November 21, 2020. The facility is scheduled to open on November 30. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Given the ongoing pandemic, the library’s grand opening will be more muted than Library Director Carrie Lixey had hoped. But it will open.
Coronavirus measures will be in place: There will be barriers on reference desks, returned books will be quarantined for five days and visitors will need an appointment to browse the stacks, Lixey said.
But these temporary rules shouldn’t stop residents from enjoying the gleaming new space, she said.
“Some of my favorite aspects of the new library are the openness and all the natural light, the views of the hills, how welcoming it feels,” she said. “And my very favorite thing is the additional space for more books – I am a librarian after all.”
The two-story library includes reading zones for kids, teens and adults, plus a multipurpose room and study rooms.
“People might not expect that just about every seat in the library has a table nearby that can charge devices, or that the library checks out things like telescopes, sewing machines and banjos,” she said of the forward-looking public service.
The best part, Lixey said, is the new way checked-out books are returned.
“The library now has an automated materials handling machine, which in layman’s terms is a conveyor belt that automatically checks in and sorts books,” she said. “Once we are past the pandemic, patrons will be able to put their books through a slot and see that they are checked-in within minutes.”
Across the outdoor “paseo” that splits the campus, the cultural arts center features a black box performance theater, music and dance studios and art galleries.
The city’s old library, which dates back to 1960, has been closed to the public since March because of the pandemic. It is expected to be demolished in coming months to make way for an In-N-Out.
