Friends of Library Board

FALLBROOK — On December 19, members of the Fallbrook Friends of the Library Board and Mike Weber, Chair of the Downtown Big Picture Committee, who has successful experience in public/private development projects, met with County Library Director Jose Aponte to present a four-page list of ideas for implementation into the new library being pursued for Fallbrook.

The list is comprised of suggestions generated by Friends of the Fallbrook Library (FOFL) members during early concept stages several years ago, new ideas added by current members and input from Aponte and the county. “At this point we are only talking about the footprint of the building and how much we can get into it, not the architecture,” said Jerri Patchett, president of the FOFL board.

Efforts to acquire voter approval for state funding to pay for the new library failed twice, thus leading to a local effort by the Friends of the Fallbrook Library to secure other types of funding for the building. The “new” county branch of the Fallbrook Library will encompass the existing building, remodeled to expand its present 8,300-square-foot facility to 25,000 square feet.

“Jose Aponte was impressed with our efforts. He said that in all his years of meeting with groups developing libraries he has not seen a better list of ideas. He said we had not missed one idea! ” Patchett said.

Once Aponte’s suggestions and those offered by the county are implemented, the group will present a revised list of suggestions in late January.