Downtown library 6-years-old, but new to me

By Cantor Sheldon Foster Merel

SAN DIEGO — It seemed  I walked into the future  last Thursday with five friends for our first visit to the “ new” downtown San Diego Library!  Its  stunning  outside  and inside structures are an architect’s dream project.  Curved aluminum  metal rods  circle around the building and its beautiful dome glistens  over the city like a beacon.

The reception area is a very high expanded space with a huge  and imposing concrete arch supporting the roof,  symbolic of the  arch  structure of the  6^th avenue  bridge into Balboa Park.  Registration desks are  on the left as one enters., and several stairs and escalators wind up into the upper floors with multiple elevators as an option

The library is  adjacent  to Petco  Park with red San Diego Trolleys traveling along its side. Its  proximity to the freeway  makes it an easy destination for all book lovers.

1,500  large glass panels surround thee building providing plenty of daylight to read, study, find books, videos, and  CD s. Documents of the city’s history never  before available to the public can now be researched.   There are  magnificent views of the city  wherever you sit with the Coronado bridge clear as a bell.

My friends and I  began our tour of the library in the  very impressive auditorium on the street level where we were greeted by our tour guide,  librarian Ms. Monee Tang.  The auditorium has excellent acoustics for concerts and lectures, and each seat has a small movable writing board attached  to take notes.

After our orientation, Tang  led us from floor to floor  as she shared the history  of the library and various rooms offering  programs of interest for every age. Baseball fans will be delighted to visit an extensive collection of books about their sport. Monee Tang was charming and  informative.  We could not have had a better guide.

Bright red and orange colored  desks, chairs, book shelves and a wall painting by Dr. Seuss  welcomed us into the children’s library.  There were a few infants crawling on the carpeted floor while parents read books to their older children.

The reading areas throughout the building  have modern designed chairs and furniture with  rich shades of blue for  leisurely study  and  clear views of the surrounding city,

We visited the well named Innovation Lab  on the third floor and met the teacher, a young woman eager to demonstrate for us the advanced  hi- tech  electronic computers, printers and sewing machines available to everyone.  The Lab is an epitome of Innovation.

There  is also  a teen center where students meet to socialize and share projects.  In addition to all these wonders,  the 6^th and 7th floors house a charter high school. How lucky these  students  are to  have  the incredible resources  of the library available just a few floors below..

When we first arrived at the library  awaiting the tour guide, we loitered in the  gift shop where  the loquacious store keeper entertained us with some background details of the library.  We learned that it took 30 years of planning to build this unique library building.  Funds were provided by  the San Diego Library Foundation, City Council,  and donations from the public topped by Joan and Irwin Jacobs  of Qualcomm.  Although the building had its grand opening  in September 2013, it  was  entirely new to me.

We loved every minute of our  wonder world time at  the library.  If you haven’t yet visited  the library, I  urge you to arrange a tour to see first hand  one of the crown jewels of San Diego.

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Merel is cantor emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel.  He may be contacted via sheldon.merel@sdjewishworld.com