Welcome
to Cupertino Library! The present
library opened in October 2004, and is 54,000 sq ft. in size on two floors. The
first floor features a new books area, a current
issue magazine and newspaper
display area with comfortable seating, as well as the media
collection all located right off the lobby. Library users
can retrieve books they have requested, and can check them
out at a conveniently located bank of self-checkout machines
along one side
of the service desk. The Friends of the Cupertino
Library have a space in the lobby for an ongoing book sale.
Located on the outside corner of the library, facing the Civic Center
Plaza and Torre Avenue, is a small cafe, operated by Coffee
Society.
The rest
of the interior public space on the main floor is in
the Children's Room. At the entrance to the children's room,
a spectacular, 16 ft. long saltwater aquarium, a gift to
the city
and to the library from Fred and Annie Chan, is
located along one wall. The Children's Room includes a picture
book
area, a beginning readers area that features window seats,
a story room, a group study room, and a children's tutoring
room. The Children's Room spreads out in an L-shape design
around two sides of the completely enclosed outdoor courtyard
in the middle of the library. The courtyard brings
natural light to the interior of both floors of the library,
as well
as views from both floors and a quiet outdoor reading
space.
The south wall of the Children's Room also looks out
onto a lovely memorial grove of redwood trees.
The second
floor of the library comprises the Adult and Teen areas,
and provides an added bonus of wonderful views of the East
Bay Hills
and of Mount Hamilton. Located next to the large Teen area
is a Teen group study room. Also on the second floor are
all of the adult reference, business reference, fiction and
non-fiction
collections, featuring international languages, the California
Western Americana collection, and back issues of magazines
and newspapers. A small training room is used to conduct
Internet
searching classes for the public. A quiet study room is located
on the south end of the non-fiction area, overlooking the
memorial grove of redwood trees. Again on this floor,
the
enclosed courtyard provides plenty of natural light to
the interior of the building, adding to the ambiance, and
making this a very different library experience from that
in the original
library building, which was very cramped and dark, having
only a few narrow windows. Throughout the building are many
more
public access computers, study tables, study chairs and lounge
chairs than were in the old library.
The community
meeting room is now located in the new 6,000 sq. ft.Community
Hall building on the Civic Center Plaza, connected to the
library by a covered arcade. The Community Hall accomodates
library
programs, community programs, and serves as the new City
Council chamber. The Civic Center Plaza includes fountains,
grass, heritage trees and seating areas. The Library, Community
Hall and Civic Plaza all celebrated their grand opening on
October 30, 2004.