A Library Lover’s Tour of the Coast

Passion for books began as a young child

BY KATHY SWEENEY

let in plenty of natural light and took advantage of the beautiful view outside. The library also has black silhouettestyle art that depicts birds in marsh-like grasses like you can find just outside.

It was still early, only about an hour after opening, but a few parents and children roamed and lounged in the children’s area. Other reading areas had a scattering of readers soaking in the peaceful scene.

My third stop was the La Selva Beach branch, at 316 Estrella Ave. This was a compact branch, sandwiched between a fire station and the La Selva Beach Clubhouse, but it made good use of its space.

Like many small community libraries, it focuses on providing a good children’s section. High ceilings, exposed beams and lots of natural light make the branch feel bigger. Other highlights include a variety of art, such as hanging wooden pieces near the information desk, sea animals on a large clear vertical panel and a marine-themed mosaic just outside the front door. Tall palm trees outside add to the beach mood.

My last stop for the day was the Capitola branch, at 2005 Wharf Road. This is a sleek new building with lots of natural wood and clean vertical lines, starting with the exterior. The children’s room was playful, with owl faces popping up on the kids’ chairs and a tree theme that carried through the library.

Many people collect items as a hobby. I have friends who collect vintage video games, comic books, even quilts. I’m a different kind of collector, however. I collect library visits. For fun, I like to visit community libraries and photograph what I find there.

My love of libraries took root in childhood. My mom, a teacher, would take my sister and me to the San Bruno library on Saturday mornings, and I’d check out the maximum 10 books every time. I’d stuff them into my Hello Kitty tote bag, then start devouring them as soon as I got home.

Now I’m a teacher and my love of libraries hasn’t dimmed. Yet I discovered something new when I began collecting library visits a few years ago: Libraries are so much more than books. Almost immediately, I noticed how each branch reflects the community it serves, including the languages of materials and services offered. Some libraries are true community hubs, with job training, resume-writing classes, citizenship workshops and language classes. Others offer parent support groups, chess clubs and homework help.

With this in mind, I headed for Santa

Cruz during my December break to explore a few coastal libraries, excited to see what treasures I might find. What would be the best feature in each branch? How would they reflect their community?

My first stop was the downtown branch, at 224 Church St. I got there shortly before opening time, and there were already patrons waiting to enter. This is pretty common. Almost every time I get to a library branch early, there’s a small group of people waiting. I like to think of them as library fans.

As soon as I stepped in, I saw the downtown branch’s superpower: the Veterans Information Center. It’s in the lobby, even before you get to the books and other services inside. Posted hours offered assistance four days a week.

Almost all libraries have inviting children’s sections, and the downtown branch was no exception. Some of the stand-out pieces were multicolored garlands of origami, beach-themed art on the walls, and a 2008 mural showing a child reading while overlooking a coastal city and an ocean made of books.

Next I headed to the Live Oak branch, at 2380 Portola Drive, which overlooks Corcoran Lagoon. This location is more tucked away than the downtown branch, and the vibe is laid-back instead of bustling.

My favorite part of this branch was the clean lines of the mission style design, from architecture to furniture style and even tabletop lamps. Large windows

There’s also a fireplace in the periodicals area, and this branch also makes great use of large windows and natural light. Near the front, there’s a section of books on local history that includes diverse offerings such as “Surfing in Santa Cruz,” “Highway 17” and “Chinese Gold: The Chinese in the Monterey Bay Region.”

Finally, a glass cabinet contains a mini-exhibit called “My Neighborhood … Camp Capitola.” It features historical photographs, a collection of various shells, and blurbs of information about the camp.

With four new library visits in my pocket, it was time for me to head back home to San Jose. I have many more coastal libraries ahead of me, but thanks for adding to my treasure chest, Santa Cruz County. I know I’ll be back.

Kathy Sweeney is a former journalist and current teacher. She began her library quest a few years ago by visiting all 25 public libraries in San Jose, where she lives.

BY BRAD KAVA

While you and your family were sheltering from torrential rains, Manuel Rodriguez, 50, and his brother Joel, 58, were digging underground conduits to help restore power to Aptos.

Not only was the work torturous in horrid conditions, but the two were far from their homes in San Luis Obispo County working six days a week, staying in a mobile home in Watsonville and driving back south for one day to see their wives and children.

And, to make matters worse, the retaining wall around Joel’s house in Atascadero had collapsed and friends there were helping him out with sand bags. He figures there was at least $15,000 to $20,000 of damage.

“The best part of the job is that you are helping people,” said Manuel, who was with a team completing the conduit on a Saturday after the storm had cleared. “And you are in a different place every day. You’re not stuck in one place every day. You travel all the time and you do something different every day.”

They work for MGE Underground, of Watsonville, which subcontracts for PG&E, part of the thousands of heroic workers who showed up in Santa Cruz to help with the devastation.

There was a PG&E crew that worked 10 hours New Year’s Eve on top of poles in biting rain on Clubhouse Drive in Aptos after a Eucalyptus tree knocked out power for 4,500 people and destroyed a pickup—a photo of which was picked up by the New York Times and illustrated the storm around the world.

“I was so impressed they were out and they didn’t stop until the power was back and it was pouring, really pouring,” said Santa Cruz County’s Probation Chief Fernando Giraldo, who watched the work from his window.

“I thought we would be out of power for days. I sleep with a CPAP machine, so it was very concerning to me. I was shocked they came and did it so quickly working on top of those poles for hours.

The endurance! That’s a young man’s job. They were great.”

In Lompico, Comcast went the extra mile to restore internet access. Most of them already had power because they had generators, but the internet was gone because the company requires commercial power to operate over a large area—and many Comcast employees have homes there and had already suffered in the CZU fires.

The employees solved the problem for their neighbors by creating a temporary network by running fiber over the canopy provided by tree tops—keeping those who were already cut off by flooded roads and no electricity able to work and study from home, and stay up on the most important news. Some of the homes still don’t have power, but they have internet, while they await a more permanent solution.

“This will be my 29th year with Comcast and 25 in the Network department, so working during storms is nothing new to us here,” said Engineering and Network supervisor Ron Poole, who worked from December 27 to January 20 with no break. “At first, the thought was that we are actually going to get some much-needed rain. The first storm hit and we had expected damage to our plant, then the storm fronts just kept coming. Aside from the CZU Fire in 2020, this has been the biggest event we have had that impacted our outside plant structure.”

The crews feared mudslides and falling trees, which were happening all around them, but there was a silver lining.

“It felt great to see all of the modems come online, and service restored. People were thanking us the whole time. We truly felt bad for them and knew that commercial power wasn’t going to be restored for 10-14 more days.”

Verizon also stepped up, to the relief of the Zayante Fire Protection District.

“Verizon has arrived!” they posted on Facebook. “They have brought with them this portable cell tower which will help support communications in Lompico

Canyon and Lower East Zayante. You might start seeing better signal on your cell phones so give them a try.

“Should be set up and running in two hours. Thank you to Verizon and the County of Santa Cruz for making this happen in our community! Note: these are limited range units and we have a lot of trees. But we figure it’s worth a try and anything is better than what’s available now.”

You could barely see Capitola’s beachfront, one of the busiest tourist attractions in the county, after the rains flushed down thousands of trees. Organized by Save Our Shores, dozens of residents donned gloves and filled a giant dumpster with driftwood, barely scratching the surface of the work still needed to be done.

“We had close to 100 people show up to clean up Capitola Beach,” said city councilwoman Yvette Brooks, who was out there working. “For two hours volunteers picked up debris and created a human conveyor belt to haul larger logs into a green waste dumpster.

“I am so proud of Capitola, its residents, community volunteers and staff. Although our city was hit hard with damage to infrastructure that will cost us millions of dollars, our village is strong and it’s moments like this when I know Capitola shines bright with resiliency.”