The Cerritos Library is the civic

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

for the City of

Cerritos, California Cerritos (; Spanish for "Little hills") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was municipal corporation, incorporated on ...

, United States. It was rededicated on March 16, 2002, with the new

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

and the current futuristic design. It feature an exterior clad with

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

panels. It was an affiliate with the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

since 2000.

History

In the 1970s, a series of developments, including a new library, were planned. A debate of whether or not to join the County of Los Angeles Public Library system and share a branch with neighboring Artesia or to create a separate facility happened. In the end, with the then-

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

, the city built its own

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

library on the corner of Bloomfield and 183rd Street in June 1972. The building was dedicated on October 13, 1973, in honor of First Lady Patricia Nixon. The site was designed by local contractor AJ Padelford & Son using blueprints from architect Maurice Fleishman. The Cerritos Library at the time was and housed 45,000 books. In addition, the library also had a children's area, theater and law library. Three years later, Cerritos joined the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System. In 1986, the city earmarked $6.6 million to remodel the building and added another 21,000 square feet (2,000 m²) to the area. The children's area was tripled to to include a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

and a 15,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. The Cerritos Library won an Award of Excellence by the American Institute of Architecture and the

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. In the spring of 2000, the western half of the Cerritos Library was torn down to make way for the new Cerritos Millennium Library. Jim Nardini of Charles Walton Associates acted as the project architect in the library. Judy Van Wyk and the Design Studio provided the interior design. The library was built by CW Driver Contractors of Los Angeles; the $40million library was completed in 2002.

Features

The 1999 book ''The Experience Economy'' is the inspiration for the designs. The

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. It is one of several museums affiliated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish a ...

served as inspiration for the layout and the exterior of the building. Under the leadership of Library Director Waynn Pearson, the Cerritos Millennium Library was expanded to on three stories and added 300,000 books to its collection, a

conference center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

, a lecture hall with

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s and over 200 computer workstations. The children's library includes the saltwater aquarium, which was expanded to a 15,000-gallon tank. The library has its own

intranet An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in ...

. Its public areas have computers and

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

. Themed after the 19th-century

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an elements, the Old World Reading Room contains leather-bound books, a fireplace, study spaces, and

chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

s. The third floor of the library houses a Board Room as well as the Skyline Room

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

or reception hall.

''Illuminations''

In November 2006, in recognition of the city's 50th anniversary, the city created a book-shaped sculpture near the front entrance to the library. The sculpture, designed and built by artist Terry Braunstein, is called ''Illumination'' and contains heritage photos of the city and mosaics depicting life in the city. The sculpture is 10 feet tall. The base of the sculpture contains lights that are turned on at night.

Awards and recognition

* Best Public Library in 2003 "Best of L.A." issue of ''

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

'' * Best Public Library in 2003 by ''L.A. Parent Magazine'' * Best Public Library in 2004 by ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'' * American Library Association/American Institute of Architects "Award of Excellence" * Thea Award in 2003 by the

Themed Entertainment Association The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its Thea Awards, which were founded in 1995 and a ...

* Special Mention Library of the Year in 2004 by ''Library Journal'' * Best Library for Children in 2008 "Best of L.A" issue by ''Los Angeles'' * Five star rating in March 2009 ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' - America's Star Libraries

References

External links

* {{Authority control Library buildings completed in 2002 Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium Cerritos, California Culture of Los Angeles Landscape design history of the United States Libraries in Los Angeles County, California Libraries established in 1973 Public libraries in California Smithsonian Institution affiliates Tourist attractions in Los Angeles County, California 1973 establishments in California