By Jessica Benda
Contributing Writer
As Irvine sketches the details of a massive Great Park expansion, it’s turning the page to a long-envisioned library.
The library is under the umbrella of the Great Park Framework Plan, a sprawling recreational blueprint that the City Council approved last summer. The project area spans 1,300 acres of proposed botanical gardens, meadows and infrastructure — and a new library to be included in Phase 1 of the project.
The library will be stationed by the eastern entrance, adjacent to what officials envision as the Veteran’s Memorial Park and Gardens.
Both sites are in the middle of large-scale demolition to pave the way for the upcoming structures. In the meantime, the city is locking down its design for the library.
“We’re in the middle of the idea and fact-finding stage where we’re trying to pick up as much input as possible from stakeholders — such as community leaders, residents, people old and young and everywhere in between — to see what their vision is for a library that can be worthy of the city of Irvine,” said Councilmember Mike Carroll, who also chairs the Great Park board.
Officials are collecting public input via community meetings; one was held in October, and the next will be held on Nov. 16.
Carroll said many residents have called for a place that combines modern learning with traditional aisles of books, ideally on the collection scale of locales like the New York Public Library. He has high hopes for the children’s area along with a vast reference section to foster developing minds.
“That’s really the goal: that we create a place of learning where the youth of our city and beyond will be inspired to grow and to learn and to be better citizens,” Carroll said.
The library will be a part of the city of Irvine rather than the Orange County Public Library system — which means ownership and funding will fall to Irvine, Carroll said. He added that it would be a member of the…
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