The Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries just announced that they are only $50,000 away from their $3 Million goal towards the build-out of the new Downtown Library. You might be surprised where you fit in this story — read on.
Long before there were think pieces about third spaces and the loneliness epidemic, Santa Cruzans understood that belonging doesn’t have to mean fitting in. The secret isn’t hidden. On our best days, this community gives every person room to do their own thing. What’s more Santa Cruz than the public library? The new Downtown Santa Cruz Public Library will soon open its doors for everyone.
Jessica Goodman, who manages adult programs for the library system, described the ethos: “It really is for absolutely everybody. Everyone is welcome all the time. You don’t need to pay anything. You don’t need to bring anything with you. You don’t need to prove anything. The library is there for you.”
This is the place for the curious to explore, the dreamers to create, the strivers to succeed, the networkers to connect, and the innovators to thrive.
When Kendra Baker and Zach Davis first dreamed up the Penny Ice Creamery, they chose the downtown library as their meeting place. “Using the resources of the library, the references and the people that work there helped us figure out how to start a business,” Davis recalls. “It was the first business we’d ever started and we needed all the help we could get.”
Victor Willis, the librarian who oversees Local History collections, leads a team of 15 volunteers digitizing Santa Cruz’s historic collections, with a new podcast just out. When asked about the impact of working with community archivists, he doesn’t hesitate: “We had an outpouring of support from everybody from retired people to college undergrads and everything in between. The community is preserving and sharing the communities’ collective memory.”
Founders plotting first steps. History being preserved by neighbors.
The new Downtown Library was designed the way this town operates: welcoming everyone’s ideas. Right in the center of the action, this sustainably designed, museum-quality civic space will be enjoyed for generations to come.
Rena Dubin participated as a member of the Downtown Library Advisory Committee and describes a process that surveyed more than 2,000 residents across every generation and walk of life. “We are really thrilled to have everybody involved,” she says. “This is a library for the community and by the community.”
What the community asked for, the community is getting: large communal and family activity rooms, study rooms, a toddler area, a teen center, an expanded children’s library with dedicated programming space, a special collections room, an atrium. And a roof deck with an open view toward the ocean, a few blocks away.
Joe Ferrara has watched downtown reinvent itself for 50 years from behind the counter of Atlantis Fantasyworld. He remembers what a true gathering place feels like. “People who were around during that era will remember that the Old Cooper House was considered the heart of downtown,” he says. “I believe this new library will be the new heart of downtown.”
In an age when nearly everything is mediated by a screen, the library stays grounded in real life. Bjorn Jones, a Downtown Branch librarian who focuses on digital literacy and often helps patrons land new jobs, frames it this way: “The human relationships and interactions that we can build upon are at a premium in a world where there is increasing technology and automation. I’m hoping that for libraries, we can really lean into our humanity.”
You’re Already Part of It. Make It Official.
If you already believe in what the library is, the only question left is whether your name will be on it.
Longtime donors John and Linda Burroughs understand what a gift here actually buys. “What we’re really trying to do is to fund the future for our children and our grandchildren,” John says. “It’s a place where people can gather. It doesn’t matter what’s in your wallet or what your interests are. Everybody can get together.”
Andrew Ow, whose family has supported the library for generations, describes the payoff in the most tangible terms: “We’re going to have this really big, beautiful new building where you can take your partner or your children or your grandchildren and show them, ‘Hey, I was a part of this. I helped build this.’ It’s going to be here for a very long time.”
The Friends have an announcement to share with you:
We have less than $75,000 to go to reach our $3 Million goal towards the build-out of the new Downtown Library!
We have a deadline. This campaign ends in September. This is your moment to add your name and stand with us to finish this library.
Recognition on the prominent donor wall begins at $1,000 — a roster of the families and businesses greeting everyone who walks through the doors. A few larger naming opportunities remain available for a limited time. Whatever your capacity to give, every contribution is meaningful and recognized. This library belongs to you.
That’s not charity. That’s pride. That’s the most Santa Cruz thing you can put your name to. Here’s your opportunity to be part of it.
