During the regularly scheduled City Council meeting Monday, Assemblymember Chris Holden presented a check for $4 million to the City of Pasadena and Pasadena Public Library to help repair the nearly 100-year-old Central Library.
After a long closure of Pasadena Public Library facilities due to the pandemic, the reopening of the Central Library and its nine branch libraries was highly anticipated by the public. In April, the first to open was the Central Library, yet it was short-lived as the city discovered that the building was not safe should there be an earthquake.
On May 3 City officials were forced to close Central Library for a required seismic retrofit and restoration to meet life safety requirements.
With the attempt to identify a plan for seismic upgrades, restoration, and the potential reopening of the facility, the city reached out to the State of California to approve a $4 million budget used for needed upgrades to the Pasadena Central Library.
In the previous year, prior to the pandemic closure, Pasadena Public Library greeted over 616,000 guests, with the Pasadena Central Library hosting 232 group events and 876 community and organization meetings.
“Having served on this council, I understand first-hand how important this library is to the community,” Assemblymember Holden said at the Council meeting.
With these initial funds now secured, the City will assemble and manage an architectural engineering design team of experts that will bring the iconic Central Library back online to ensure access to library services and programs for future generations, and to preserve the historical features of the Central Library building.
For more information on the Central Library, visit www.PasadenaPublicLibrary.net.
