Pleasant Hill's new, top-shelf library offers something for everyone

Pleasant Hill, an East Bay city of nearly 35,000 residents, recently welcomed the long-awaited new Pleasant Hill Library in July 2022.

The city’s nearly 60-year-old library was past its shelf life with many maintenance issues.

In 2014, Pleasant Hill city officials formed a Library Task Force to explore a new library building that would meet the evolving needs of the community. Thanks to a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2016, the city was able to fund a new library, plus infrastructure improvements.

The five acres of land for the building were donated by Contra Costa County.

Pleasant Hill residents were part of the planning process every step of the way.

     Watch the video to learn how the state-of-the-art library came together.

“We got a lot of community involvement,” Pleasant Hill Mayor Michael G. Harris said. “We had town hall meetings and we did all kinds of other stuff to find out, ‘What do the residents of Pleasant Hill want in their new library?’ And that's how we came up with all these various areas and designs.”

A few items on the wish list were more open space, family seating, natural lighting, and enhanced technology. The city worked closely with community partners and developers to deliver residents’ goals.

Construction for the $33 million project began in 2020 and was completed on time despite working through the pandemic and supply chain issues.

Thousands of community members gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the new library.

"This has been an unbelievable journey,” said Harris to an eager crowd of residents. “When I first ran for city council 20 years ago, a new library — modern, state-of-the-art — library was a dream for me. And now, 20 years later, that dream is coming true, not just for me, but for all of you."

There’s a lot more than books to check out at the new Pleasant Hill Library. The new state-of-the-art library includes plenty of open space, a makerspace area, quiet room, activity yard, study rooms, tech zone, and more. The building is also net-zero and carbon neutral.

"I think it's amazing. I think you can really see that the city leaders are really invested in giving back to the community and really understanding the needs of the growing, young population here,” resident Andrea Ygnacio said. “It's a treat. It's a treat for everyone in the community."

“Pleasant Hill is a very welcoming city and the whole idea of the library is to be welcoming to the community as well. And that's what it really means to us,” Pleasant Hill Councilmember Sue Noack said. “It's for people's imaginations, gathering, community. That's what the whole library is about.

The Pleasant Hill Library offers something for everyone.

"I always think of a library as kind of like a central hub for the community. It’s not just for kids, but it's for adults, parents, grandparents,” resident Bill Hotter said.

The Pleasant Hill Library represents a new chapter for the city and will serve generations to come.

The Cal Cities #LocalWorks initiative shines the spotlight on examples of local actions that are making a difference to their communities. Show how #LocalWorks in your community by contacting communications@calcities.org.