After delaying the opening of the new Campbell Library in November, the Santa Clara County Library District announced that the grand opening will be Saturday, May 9.
Construction of the two-story building at 77 Harrison Ave. is complete, as is the landscaping. The interior finishing work is wrapping up, and library staff are starting to move in brand-new furniture, books and equipment.
The library’s opening was delayed after the City of Campbell was awarded a $500,000 grant from Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) to build an all-electric facility after plans for the new library had already been approved. Modifying the plans to accommodate an all-electric system pushed the library’s grand opening up.
The new 24,000-square-foot library features floor-to-ceiling windows to provide natural light. On the upper floor is a flexible community gathering space called The Overlook, flanked by the community room on one side and the children’s room on the other. The Overlook provides an unobstructed view of Orchard Green.
There are also meeting rooms on this floor available for the public to reserve.
Funding for this project started with Measure O, a $50 million bond measure passed by Campbell voters in 2018 to renovate the old library and build a new police operations building with a 911 dispatch center and Emergency Operations Center. Of these funds, $20.5 million was allocated to the library project, along with the SVCE grant and a $4.7 million infrastructure California State Library grant. The library district contributed approximately $510,000 toward interior amenities and programming, and the Friends of the Campbell Library raised another $250,000.
“The new Campbell Library reflects many years of working together with our community and the Santa Clara County Library District,” said Campbell City Manager Brian Loventhal in a release.