New Salinas library designed with youth in mind

If buildings had bones, the new El Gabilan Library on North Main Street in Salinas would be a skeleton right now.

But once completed, city staff and residents say it will be quite the sight.

“It’s phenomenal compared to what was here. It’s like you said, it’s a 21st century, tech-heavy library,” said Robin Lee, a Salinas resident who took a public tour of the new facility on Tuesday with city staff.

There are spaces planned for digital studios, internet cafes and work areas for our developers and future tech titans.

“I think what you’re going to see is that library will be overwhelmed the minute we open it. And with the future growth area coming, there’s going to be a need for another one,” said Joe Gunter, the mayor of Salinas.

The old El Gabilan Library stood at less than 3,500 square feet, but the new two-story building is nearly 23,000. And they are opening it up: the design allows more natural light to come in through the windows bouncing around the library’s curved architecture.

The city is also putting in indoor and outdoor patio seating.

“And the community room is so needed in Salinas because there’s so little community space, so it’s going to add to that,” said Lee.

But behind the physical structure is the real reason why the city is pouring in about $24 million into this North Salinas project. They want to provide a space for children and teens, in hopes of combating the trouble tied with city youth and gangs.

“If we can get young people involved reading and doing digital stuff, working on their computers, becoming friends versus joining gangs, versus getting involved in inappropriate activity, we win,” said Gunter.

There is one hiccup, however. The library’s neighbors can be seen easily from the second floor of the building. Mayor Gunter said the city has already asked them to clean up the land, which he says they have done.

But residents say this is an exciting time to live in Salinas.

“To have this available will be terrific. Because it will be intervention to give the kids good models, what to do and how to read, and how to interact and have good social skills. I mean, it’s terrific,” said Lee.

The building is scheduled to be completed at the end of January 2020 at the latest.