Lakewood branch nears opening as Sunnyvale staff show photos, collections and staffing plans

Deputy Director Garrett Kurimoto gave the Sunnyvale Board of Library Trustees a photo-driven progress report on the Lakewood branch on Jan. 5, outlining site status, collections orders, staffing plans and operational features intended for neighborhood use.

Kurimoto said design and permitting concluded after community input and construction began with a 2024 groundbreaking. Staff have ordered nearly 25,000 physical items for opening-day collections and submitted an initial operating budget to the city that was approved in full, Kurimoto said. Recruitment for the Lakewood branch manager has closed; application review will occur in January with interviews planned and a hiring goal of February.

The branch will be located on the Lakewood School property between Lakewood School and Lakewood Park. Kurimoto showed interior and exterior photos and described two wings: the library side (collections, children’s area, teen space and adult reading) and a learning-center wing (program rooms and district classrooms). The building totals roughly 20,000 square feet versus about 60,000 square feet at the Main Library; the operational library portion is roughly 10,000 square feet.

Key features Kurimoto highlighted include an indoor-outdoor children’s space, study rooms wired for monitors and teleconferencing, a small automated materials-handling system, a creation lab (high-powered workstation with digital-creation software) and a hands-on makerspace with fabrication equipment. The branch will offer after-hours holds pickup with a secured holds room that patrons can access by scanning their library cards.

Staff said Lakewood’s planned hours are about 52 per week (Monday–Saturday) with limited evening service initially and that hours will be adjusted after observing patron demand; staff discussed the possibility of a soft opening to accommodate students on the school campus. Kurimoto cautioned that weather and remaining construction steps make it too early to set a firm opening date, though staff are aiming for spring.

During non-agenda oral reports, staff also announced the City Council added $5,000,000 to the library fund (on top of roughly $15,000,000 already in the fund) to support future library planning and renovation work; staff said those funds could be used for design, studies or restroom renovation planning and will be coordinated with the city manager’s office.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Approve Board of Library Trustees meeting minutes from Nov. 3. Moved and seconded at the Jan. 5 meeting; roll call recorded four 'Yes' votes, one absence (Board member Lu); motion passed 4–0.

Next steps noted by staff include continued coordination with construction to mitigate delays, scheduling stakeholder site tours when conditions permit, finalizing operational policies, filling remaining staff positions after hiring a branch manager, and setting a grand-opening date when construction permits and weather risks are mitigated.