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Pleasant Hill will officially unveil its new library July 30, city officials said this week.
The $24 million project sits on 5 acres donated by Contra Costa County at 1700 Oak Park Blvd. It was paid for by public funds approved by voters in 2016 via Measure K.
The 25,000 square feet of library will have an activity yard for children with play sculptures and a magnetic play wall, a “messy maker” space designed to keep sound in and a retreat room to keep sound out.
There will be an early literacy area for youngsters and their parents, a Friends of the Pleasant Hill Library store to buy books and merchandise, study rooms and an outdoor hangout area for kids.
Next to Pleasant Hill Middle School, the new library will have a tech zone space, with a kiosk dedicated to checking out laptops and a dedicated area for printing. The east side of the building will feature big windows with views of Grayson Creek and a path near the Contra Costa Canal Trail.
The library will be powered by state-of-the-art Tesla solar panels as a Net Zero Energy building. That means it won’t produce more greenhouse gases than it takes from the environment.
There will be hundreds of feet of piping for hot and cool water under the main floor to help regulate indoor temperature, as well as skylights overhead that can stay open on hot summer nights to make sure the place isn’t too stuffy the next morning.
More information about the project can be found on the Pleasant Hill Library’s website.