The Alpine Library is hosting a birthday party—their own. Their third birthday, in their 3-year-old facility, will be May 21.
The party will be held at the library, on Alpine Boulevard, from 3:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Cake, children’s games, the Alpine chorale and more, are all on their party’s dance card.
“It is going to be an opportunity for the community to celebrate the third anniversary of our beautiful new library,” said the library’s branch manager, Jenne Bergstrom. “The new facility has been the center of Alpine. The circulation has tripled by a factor of three.”
According to Bergstrom the new library complex is used for public meetings, art displays, a bookstore, concerts every month, and preschool classes every day of the week among other events.
“Alpine families have really embraced the new library since it opened,” county supervisor Dianne Jacob, wrote email. “It has become what we all hoped –a welcoming, gathering spot for the entire community. Congratulations to residents, librarians, members of the Alpine Friends of the Library Association (ALFA), and others, for making it a great success.”
The library’s grand opening was May 21, 2016. According to Jacob the 13,500-square-foot library cost more than $10 million to build and the money came from the County’s general fund.
“We’ve been fundraising for years, it started around 2003,” said president of the Alpine Friends of the Library Association, Christine Connell, on their drive to build a new library. Connell said the Alpine Friends of the Library, that operates the bookstore inside, is still instrumental in raising money for the library.
“It (the former library) was up the street in a building on Alpine boulevard,” said Connell. “We rented out a portion of a commercial building.”
Total visitors since the grand opening in May 2016 have been nearly 384,000 visitors. Checkout totals for physical books and e-materials have been more than 613,000; which includes books, movies, and e-materials according to public outreach specialist for the San Diego County Libraries Katie White.
The new library, next to the Alpine Community Center, was the County’s first zero net energy library. According to multimedia designer with the County communications office the branch uses only half as much energy required by other County libraries.
The library is at 1752 Alpine Blvd.