MILLENNIUM READING; OFFICIALS HOPE FOR NEW LIBRARY TO OPEN BY '01.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

In the latest chapter in the effort to move the Canyon Country Public Library to a larger, state-of-the-art facility, city and county officials continue to negotiate terms while eyeing early 2001 for the grand opening.

Having already agreed to build a 17,000-square-foot library at Shangri La Drive and Soledad Canyon Road, they are thrashing out details of the design and the financing for the $5 million project, said Ken Striplin, the city's management analyst.

``The project is moving along. Designs are under way. It's come down to who's going to pay for what,'' he said. ``We're hoping to open the new library by early 2001 or possibly late in 2000.''

In the joint venture, the city offered to front construction costs and receive reimbursements later from the county Library Services Agency, said Striplin.

Still being negotiated are the county's repayment schedule, the portion of expenses the city will ultimately pay and financing for a larger library staff in the future.

County spokeswoman Nancy Mahr said city and county planners also continue to collaborate on the layout.

The new library will be built in a shopping center being developed by TCP Management, about one-fourth mile from the library it will replace. Canyon Country residents say that the library needs more online reference services, that it has become overcrowded and that traffic is unsafe around it, according to public officials.

``From what I understand, the community's been crying for this for some time,'' said Gerri Matthews, who became the Canyon Country library manager six months ago.

There is not enough space to house the library's growing collections, she said.

``We have a large enough budget to update our materials, but we lack the shelf space to keep them,'' Matthews said. ``I have to weed through the collection almost daily. I have stacks of books on my desk as we speak.''

Books that haven't been borrowed by customers for two or more years are transferred to other public libraries or sold through Friends of the Library, which benefits future purchases, she said.

Still under design, the new library will be 5,500 square feet larger. Besides additional space for materials, there will be rooms big enough for community functions, including story-time programs and other activities for children, as well as meetings and discussion groups for adults.

The old library building is rated for no more than 100 visitors at a time.

``We hate to do it, but sometimes we have to turn parents and children away,'' Matthews said. She said there is great need for room to provide programs for children in kindergarten through sixth grade and to expand the collection of materials for them.

Use of the library has grown while the population that it serves has dramatically increased to almost 50,000, she said. Citywide, population last year jumped by 9.8 percent to 147,000.

Use of computerized online services also has increased dramatically, Matthews said.

``The new library will have more terminals online so customers can access the Internet, and there'll be more online reference materials,'' she said.

The Canyon Country library had 8,500 card holders in the most recent count, and 35 to 40 percent of them used the library at least once a month.

Records from previous years were unavailable for comparison, but library officials said they have seen steady growth in library use.

City planners and library officials said they selected a new site with more room for parking, easier access and lower traffic volume on nearby streets.

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PHOTO (1--2--Color) Canyon Country Public Library worker Suzanne Cummings returns books to shelves on which officials say about the only room is where materials are checked out. At left are cartlike portable shelves holding some of the overflow. City and county officials are collaborating on plans for a new library.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News