Building Starts on New Library Facility

Groundbreaking took place Monday on a two-year project to replace the old Panorama City Library with a new $4-million, state-of-the-art facility.

The 12,500-square-foot structure, which will be twice as large as the one it replaces, will include an electronic library with multimedia work stations linking it to the Central Library downtown and a vast array of databases, officials said.

“It’s going to be a beautiful building and it’s something this community really needs and deserves,” said City Librarian Susan Goldberg Kent, who, with City Councilman Joel Wachs and a handful of other city officials, helped kick off the project at a Monday morning ceremony.

“This branch serves a population of 110,000 people,” said Kent, adding that it’s among the busiest in the city.

The new Panorama City branch will be built on the site of the old one at 14345 Roscoe Blvd.

The project will be the last--many people say long overdue--library improvement authorized by voters in a 1989 bond measure. Construction was delayed several times as higher priority was assigned to repairing or replacing other branches.

“Two years is a long time to wait, but we can do it because we’ve really been waiting a lot longer than that already,” said Panorama City resident and Friends of the Library volunteer Emily Winseman.

“In this day and age, when people need something to hang onto in their communities, the library is a perfect place. Adults can enjoy it, children can enjoy it, it has a lot to offer everyone,” Winseman said.

Earlier this month, library officials set up a bookmobile in the nearby Panorama Mall that will remain open while the new library is being built.

The two nearest library branches are located at 6250 Sylmar Ave. in Van Nuys and at 16244 Nordhoff St. in North Hills.