San Rafael, CA – Attention, all readers: A new and much larger library is about to open in the Hamilton neighborhood in southern Novato.
Buildings were installed in October 2015 at the South Novato Library complex.
The South Novato branch of the
Marin County Free Library (MCFL) is targeting a November 18 reopening date at a spot less than a mile from its previous location and next door to a temporary “pop-up” library that’s been in use since May. To give staff time for the transition, the “pop-up” library at 931 C Street closed on November 11 so books, shelves, furniture and other supplies could be moved a few feet to the new modular buildings that were
installed in October. The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the closure/reopening at its November 10 meeting.
The new three-building complex, designed to be a learning center for patrons all ages, is a joint venture between MCFL, the Novato Unified School District (NUSD), the New Media Learning Center and Marin County Office of Education (MCOE). The Board of Supervisors and NUSD Board of Trustees embraced the innovative collaboration in February 2015, although planning and community input had been going on since September 2013.
The old South Novato branch was closed in May 2015 just before its lease expired at 6 Hamilton Landing, part of the refurbished hangars from the long-closed Hamilton Air Force Base. To maintain library services in the southern section of Novato, the “pop-up” branch was opened in a district-owned modular classroom about 9/10ths of a mile to the west and closer to subdivisions near Highway 101.
The new library complex is about 6,000 square feet, or double the size of the old branch at the Hamilton hangar.
MCFL Director Sara Jones said the entire learning campus will offer full services by the end of the year, including the maker space/tech center in collaboration with New Media Learning Center and MCOE. New Media Learning and MCOE provide innovative, collaborative educational programs for Marin County kids. New Media Learning offers learning environments that encourage more opportunities for young people to develop confidence, creativity, and interest in science, technology, engineering, math, art, and learning as a whole through making.
The MCFL dedicated $1.485 million to find an alternate space for the Hamilton library branch in November 2014. The County’s contribution is $1.1 million and NUSD’s is $484,000. The County’s ongoing lease payments for new South Novato Library will be dramatically less than the previous lease for the old South Novato branch. Additional resources of $385,000 provided furniture, technology and expanded materials at the new South Novato location.
MCFL also has a main Novato branch at 1720 Novato Blvd., closer to the downtown area.