Building the library from the bedrock

Palomar College Library is going from straight out of the 70s, to a more modern look that students will look forward to doing home­work and studying in.

The Palomar College library was built in 1983 and remains unchanged since. Aside from the addition of computers, the interior of the library is out of date. Until recently with the money from Proposition M that has allowed Palomar to recreate its campus, which includes the construction of a whole new library.

Prop. M is a $694 million construction bond to be directly used for the renovation and mod­ernization of Palomar. The basis for this plan is called the Master Plan 2022, which is the series of buildings to be built and renovated by that time.

Construction on this new library began in the summer of 2015, with the projected com­pletion date to be June 2017.

The budget of the building is $50 million, ac­cording to constrnction projects on Palomar’s website. Although according to an article writ­ten by the San Diego Tribune back in 2015 the total cost is at $69 million.

Current student Mark Ramiro does not think he will still be at Palomar when the library is complete. From an outsider perspective he cannot say whether he thinks the libraries construction is going too slow.

Ramiro said, “It’s never really crowded,” of the current library. Ramiro said in regards to the new one, “There is a certain aspect to it if something is more appealing to a person. They’re more likely to go there, but how much so l wouldn’t be able to guess.”

Aside from quiet time and studying, a lot of students use the library for printing and com­puters said Librarian Connie Sterling. This new space will offer more computers that are up to date as well as printing. Students also utilize the library for tutoring and working on group proj­ects, and the new facility will offer great study/ work rooms as well as a new tutoring section.

“I’m really excited that we will have more study rooms.” said Sterling. “It should have the up-to-date technology to allow students to hook up their laptops up and work on presentations with each other.”

She expressed that the construction staff and school have not been the best at getting infor­mation to them on the status of the building. Although after her most recent meeting she found out that the opening date for the library has been pushed even farther and not opening until early 2018. Although Palomar website still states it’s previous estimated opening being Au­gust 2017.

Sterling said, “It’s because the first phase is the construction itself and the second phase is getting the furnishing in there … that’s the pa1t that is carrying it out.”

Along with finding time to get all the fur­nishing in there they also have to manage a time to where students will still have a library to use, or whether they will have to close it completely.

During the ceremony for the beginning of construction back in June 2015 former Presi­dent of the college’s governing board John Hal­con said, “This new center, this new library, this new place of knowledge, will become the heart of learning on this campus.”

First-year student Heidi Panek currently goes to the library very regularly. Panek said, “I wouldn’t say it’s not used (the current library) but I mean it’s never packed.”

The college hopes that the new library and updated campus will attract more students to attend Palomar making the library “packed.”

Palomar students Tania Bustamante utilizes the current library but isn’t sure if she’ll still be at Palomar when the new one is completed. Bustamante responded to the time it has taken to build the new library by saying, “I get that it must take time but it’s a little too slow.”

While a lot of current students may not be at Palomar to see the day, the future of an up to date Palomar library is on its way.

For more information on the Libraries sta­tus check on Palomar’s website and visit the construction site where you can see a photo of the future layout at palomar.edu/pages/ propm/librarylearn ing-resource-center-Ire/.