Escondido library to relocate temporarily to mall storefronts; staff to seek April 9 budget adjustment

Escondido Public Library staff told the Board of Trustees they plan to move library services to a cluster of mall storefronts near Target for roughly 12 months and will ask City Council for a budget adjustment and lease approval on April 9.

The board heard that the temporary space will consist of three storefronts on the mall’s first floor — a children’s area, a general collection area and a storefront identified as “Princeton Library” in the diagrams — plus two rooms for staff and storage. The storefronts are not internally connected, so patrons would exit one storefront to enter another. Staff said the move will require a short closure of services during the move week; they described a three-week transition period in late April, with an outside reopening date of May 27 but the goal of opening earlier if possible.

Why this matters: the temporary site is significantly smaller than previous proposals and will change how patrons access collections, computers and programming. Staff told trustees that some services (for example, public computer access and seating) will be reduced in the temporary space, program locations will change, and Friends of the Library volunteers will move with the library.

Library staff and project manager details

Rob Roe, assistant director of community services, told trustees the full relocation package going to council on April 9 will include moving services to and from the temporary location, IT work, and building maintenance and construction work tied to preparing the storefronts. "April 9 is when the staff are going to council to make a full request for a budget adjustment," Roe said.

Project manager Ed Vasquez told trustees that construction at the permanent site is expected to begin in June and that staff may request an extension of project deadlines in January 2026 after clearer progress metrics are available.

What will change inside the temporary storefronts

Staff representatives said the temporary footprint is far smaller than some earlier plans. The presenters said the general-collection storefront will keep roughly 30% of the browsing collection available on the floor, with the remainder held in on-site storage and provided on request. "They will be all available on the floor... roughly, in the general collections, around 30% would be accessible and the rest of it will be on the same site storage and what we call reserved collections," a library staff presenter said.

Public computer access also will be reduced: staff reported the public computer count will drop from about 20 machines at the main library to four at the temporary location, though the storefronts’ proximity to mall seating and mall Wi-Fi are being factored into the plan. Children’s materials and a small area for story times were described as fitting within the children’s storefront.

Programming, access and facilities

Staff said some larger programs that cannot fit in the temporary storefronts will be held at the Mathis Center (classroom or dance studio) and that some story times will continue at the Mathis Center beginning in May. Restrooms shown on the storefront plans are staff-only; patrons will use mall restrooms, and Target restrooms are nearby.

Entrances and logistics

Trustees asked about public access. Staff said public entry to the temporary library will be through the mall’s main entrances; there is no direct external street entrance into the library storefronts. The city and mall management have discussed wayfinding and digital signage; staff said the mall has been open to allowing window signage and use of the mall’s digital signage and to placing wayfinding in the parking lot.

Friends of the Library

Staff said the Friends of the Library were briefed and will move with the library. "We are treating the Friends of the Library at this time as if they are a program of the library. And therefore, they will be moving with us," a staff presenter said.

Schedule, procurement and communications

Roe said the project went out to bid but was about two weeks behind the intended schedule and that contractor walkthroughs were expected by the end of the month. He said the April 9 council package will include rent being negotiated with mall management. Roe also described a three-phase communications plan — announcing the move, announcing that the library has moved, and announcing the return — and said the city will use a mix of digital channels, flyers, window clings, QR pages and mall wayfinding to reach patrons. He said some materials would begin circulating within about a week, but full details would follow council approval.

What trustees asked and the next steps

Trustees pressed staff on square footage changes (staff and trustees discussed prior proposals of roughly 50,000 square feet versus a 15,000-square-foot storefront plan), service reductions, computer capacity and how programming will be maintained. Staff repeatedly said they would keep core services available but could not replicate every element of the main library in the smaller temporary footprint.

Staff said they will return with an updated schedule and a revised unfunded-items list for trustees and that the city’s April 9 council submittal will capture the financial and contractual elements needed for the move.

Ending

Trustees received the updates and asked for an updated timeline and communications links to circulate to constituents. Staff committed to send an updated project sheet and the landing-page link once finalized; no formal board vote on the relocation was recorded at the meeting.