Libraries

A new library tower clock with chimes was dedicated this week on the third-floor patio of the Cypress College Library. Alan Lombardi, a spokesman for the community college, said the clock dedication launches the 30th anniversary celebrations for Cypress College. The new clock and chimes will honor Nilane A. Lee, a 14-year member of the North Orange County Community College District, which governs Cypress College. Lee died Nov. 21.

Less than 24 hours after a sudden storm brought rain and lightning to the San Fernando Valley, skies were bright and clear over North Hills on Friday for the opening of Los Angeles' largest branch library. "I love a place like this because it's a shrine," said KNBC-TV Channel 4 weatherman Christopher Nance, addressing several hundred people gathered outside the $5-million Mid-Valley Regional Branch Library.

Residents can get a firsthand look at plans for the new city library at 7 tonight at City Hall, 25909 Pala. A scale model of the proposed $6-million building will be on display. Several city officials, library task force members and the project architect will be available to answer questions. "It will give people an opportunity to see what the library is all about and ask questions," said Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield, who has been a major force in the drive to build a new library.

The city of Calabasas plans a grand opening Jan. 13 for its new library in the Parkway Calabasas Shopping Center. City Council members and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky are scheduled o be on hand for the event, which begins at 11 a.m. at the library, 23645 Calabasas Road. Until now, the city's library has been housed in a tiny room in City Hall that held about 4,000 volumes. Officials say the new, 1,500-square-foot facility will house about 12,000 volumes.

Seven-year-old Matthew Rush was one of the first people through the door Saturday morning after Calabasas officially opened its new library. He wasted no time getting to the children's section. Within minutes, he had selected several books, which he handed to his mother, Mary Ann Rush, while he scoured the shelves for more. "My God, there's lots of books in here," he said. He and other patrons were recalling the tiny, cramped room at City Hall that had passed for the city's library.

Mission College officials this week said the company contracted to build its high-technology, $11 million library has been fired, but maintained that the new building is still on schedule for completion late this year. College officials declined to specify why the contract was terminated, citing a legal claim made by the company, Orange County-based Lewis Jorge Construction Management Inc.

Two projects are at the center of the city's growth plans for 1996: the new community library and a recently approved entertainment center. The latter, known as Kaleidoscope, is designed as a 200,000-square-foot project that will be a smaller version of the Edwards 21 theater complex that opened recently. As many as 16 movie screens are planned for the site at Crown Valley Parkway and Interstate 5, along with a food court and specialty retail stores.

A special commission is recommending that the city's two libraries temporarily remain in the Orange County Public Library system. The Library Services Committee will tell the City Council Monday that it supports keeping the Mesa Verde and downtown branches under county domain for 18 to 36 months while other options are explored. Council members will then vote on that and other recommendations.

A dozen or so times a month, groups of elementary school pupils line up and trek to a place of wondrous adventure and learning: the Panorama City Branch Library, particularly popular for its children's services. But by the end of the year, the children, as well as thousands of other users, will have to go elsewhere. Officials plan to raze the cramped building, built in 1959, and replace it with a new facility twice the size.

The new library under construction would have no ties to the county library system under a staffing proposal being considered by city officials. The City Council will review a plan Monday under which the city staff would hire its own personnel for the library at a cost of about $144,000 more annually than working through the county system.