Long Beach’s Department of Public Works has begun construction on a large fence around the Billie Jean King Main Library in downtown, which officials say is necessary to create a safer space for the community.
Construction on the project began on Monday, March 16, and the project is expected to take an additional six to eight weeks to complete, Public Works spokesperson Jocelin Padilla-Razo said on Wednesday, March 18, notwithstanding bad weather or other complications.
The project, which will cost an estimated $790,000, will see the creation of large new fencing around the library’s existing terrace. The fencing will be six-feet-tall along the West Broadway side of the library; and eight-feet-tall along the Pacific Avenue and Lincoln Park sides of the facility, according to the city.
Long Beach is building a new fencing around Billie Jean King Main Library’s terrace. The project is expected to be completed in June 2026. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach).
Long Beach is building a new fencing around Billie Jean King Main Library’s terrace. The project is expected to be completed in June 2026. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach).
Long Beach’s Public Works Department installs a fence on the terrace of the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Long Beach’s Public Works Department installs a fence on the terrace of the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Long Beach’s Public Works Department installs a fence on the terrace of the Billie Jean King Main Library in Long Beach on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Long Beach is building a new fencing around Billie Jean King Main Library’s terrace. The project is expected to be completed in June 2026. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach).
Work on the project, according to First District Councilmember Mary Zendejas, has been underway for years. Zendejas, in a newsletter sent to constituents on Saturday, March 14, said she had advocated for a redesign of the library terrace and funding to pay for the project “several budget cycles ago,” after “hearing and personally seeing the impacts of the current design.”
The fence, Zendejas added, will “minimize indoor disruptions, reduce noise and visual interruptions and create a more secure space that supports positive, community-focused programming such as book sales, crafts, games, lunch programs and other family-friendly events.”
The Billie Jean King Library has historically faced many challenges, mostly relating to people experiencing homelessness using the facility’s terrace as a place to shelter. The library has been an especially popular location for people without housing to stay during extreme weather.
More than 100 people experiencing homelessness, for example, took shelter under BJK’s terrace in 2023 as a severe winter storm pummeled the region with frigid temperatures and heavy rain.
More unhoused people die of hypothermia in the Los Angeles region during winter weather conditions than in New York City, an expert said previously, because the region lacks the infrastructure to protect people during those conditions. Unhoused people in Southern California are also more susceptible to drowning during flooding, as many seek shelter in low-lying flood prone areas including the LA River.
Tensions at the Billie Jean King Main Library came to a head in 2022, when the city temporarily shut the facility down and announced its intentions to come up with new plans to address security concerns that had arisen there.
Library staff, at the time, reported that there had been a major increase in “mental health-related episodes” in and around BJK.
“As a public library, all are welcome and unfortunately some of those that enter our spaces have unresolved trauma or medical issues that have resulted in mental illness that then turns into distress that affects others,” LBPL director Cathy De Leon said at the time. “As our mental health system struggles to help all those who need care, so has the public library struggled at times to create safe spaces for all library visitors.”
After a multi-week closure, the city reopened BJK with new security measures in place. Those included a reassignment of two Long Beach Police Department Special Security Officers (SSOs) to patrol the library Tuesdays through Fridays.
The library also reported it had developed a “better internal protocol” to ensure security coverage across the Civic Center Campus was more consistent, and that the city had developed a plan to work with private security companies to patrol if SSOs weren’t available.
But issues have continued at Billie Jean King Main Library. The facility, for example, was deemed a “Priority Focus Area” by the city in Long Beach began developing those areas, which are home to large homeless encampments, in 2024 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Grants Pass v. Johnson — which had previously prevented cities from citing people for sleeping or camping in public without offering adequate and available shelter first.
Long Beach, at the time, hailed the overturning of Grants Pass v. Johnson, and said the reversal would provide the city with an “additional enforcement mechanism” in its efforts to address homelessness around the city.
Now, in other words, Long Beach Police officers responding to calls for service have the option to enforce local ordinances restricting encampments in public spaces by citing people with misdemeanors. The city, though, said it would only ticket people sleeping in encampments if other outreach methods and social services offerings had not been effective.
“Initially, the LBPD’s Quality of Life (QoL) strategy prioritized identified focus areas as keylocations of concern. While officers were directed to maintain a balanced deployment approach, officers retained discretion to address QoL issues as conditions warranted,” the city said in a March 3 memo. “Over time, this strategy evolved as QoL enforcement became integrated into the response tools available to officers, citywide.”
From the pre-Johnson v. Grants Pass period, from Jan. 1, 2023, to June 27, 2024, and the post-decision period, from June 28, 2024 to the end of last year, quality-of-life calls for service in at BJK increased from 65 to 76, while quality-of-life arrests/misdemeanors increased from 1 to 37, the memo said.
Long Beach has also cleared homeless encampments in those priority areas, including at BJK, since the Grants Pass ruling was overturned — most recently in August 2024.
The new fencing project, meanwhile, appears to be the latest in the city’s efforts to quell community concerns about the population of people experiencing homelessness who congregate around BJK and the adjacent Lincoln Park.
“This addition will also ensure that city staff can more effectively manage this community space. At the Main Library and throughout our Library system, we welcome all patrons,” the city’s statement said. “At times, some who visit the Library may have unresolved trauma, medical issues or mental health challenges that impact other library patrons, staff and the spaces that everyone uses. By prioritizing thoughtful design and proactive management of these isolated events, the city is reinforcing its commitment to maintaining a positive, welcoming environment for all library visitors.”
The library will remain open during construction, and once finished, the new fenced in terrace will be used as a space to host community-focused programming including book sales, crafts, games, and lunch programs.
“When completed, the refreshed terrace will remain open during Main Library’s hours of operation and be a functional, secure and accessible setting for the whole community to enjoy,” the city said.
Long Beach also said it would continue conducting outreach and offering services to people experiencing homelessness in and around the library.
“The City also recognizes that community members experiencing homelessness often gather around the terrace and does not anticipate this project to cause any disruption in services or resources offered by our Homeless Services Bureau,” the city said. “Outreach teams are continuing to conduct outreach to notify people experiencing homelessness in the area about the project and offer connections to supportive services and resources.”
Those services include ongoing outreach conducted by the Department of Library, Arts and Culture every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesdays from noon to 4 p.m. The Department of Health and Human Services also sends its Mobile Access Center (essentially a mobile, mini version of the Multi-Service Center) to the library every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon.
Homeless outreach teams from the health department also visit BJK every Wednesday evening to provide basic services, develop relationships, and help people experiencing homelessness access social services including interim shelter and housing placement, the city said.
The Community Crisis Response Team — another arm of the health department which aims to divert 9-1-1 calls for involving those experiencing mental health crises, substance abuse or a lack of other basic needs, such as housing and food, from becoming unnecessarily entangled with the criminal justice system — is also available to respond to concerns at BJK as necessary, the city said.
“We remain committed to ensuring every resident is treated with dignity and respect and continues to have access to the support they need,” the city added.
The new fence, meanwhile, is expected to be completed in June.