Library Finds a Temporary Home at First Congregational

After an uncertain future, the voted Sunday to house the in Burlingame Hall, a large multipurpose space, during the library's nine month renovation.

"It's a go," said Stephen Buffy, the library's branch manager.

Time was running out for the Sonoma Valley branch, and renovations in August - requiring the closure of the main facility (the first such closure in the Sonoma County library system, according to Buffy).

"We had pretty much exhausted the inventory of the Sonoma Valley looking at alternative sites," said Buffy.

As an alternative, the library had begun considering renting modular facilities, which are expensive "a couple hundred thousand, easily” said Buffy, not accounting for wiring and restroom facilities.

“No one thought of Burlingame Hall because it’s not an empty space, it’s a space that gets quite a lot of use,” congregation moderator Brian Smucker. 

In a meeting on Sunday, the congregation voted to lease the space to the library, following several weeks of conversations between the library and church officials.

“It’s a good deal for the church and a good deal for the library,” said Smucker. “We’ll be able to make a little income on the space, and the library will have a home.”

A number of community institutions and businesses have been incubated in Burlingame Hall before moving into larger facilities – including Vintage House, the Old Adobe School, the Seventh Day Adventist Church and Congregation Shir Shalom.

The congregation is considering renting space to accommodate the synagogue, which often uses the hall for the celebration of high holy days, and other various events, during the year of renovation.

The library will pay $9,400 per month for Burlingame Hall, the market rate for the 3,500-square-foot facility, on a one-year lease. The renovation is scheduled to take nine months, but the congregation is willing to write a month-to-month provision into the document, in-case the work runs behind schedule.

"It's just so great, not just for us, but for the community - it's the congregation, it's the synagogue, it's close to downtown and hopefully we can renovate the space to make it even better," he said.

“I am very proud of my congregation for offering this opportunity to the community and speaking for the library we are grateful to have a home,” said Mary Evelyn Arnold,  a member of both the congregation and the library commission, who recused herself from all discussions.

Having a space in the bag is a relief for Buffy, and allows him to turn his attention to planning the transitional services the library will offer during the renovation (his major priority is children’s services, but hopes to transition the branch’s mystery readership group and new books and CDs to the temporary facility).

“It’s one of those things where no one can imagine us not having a library, but we were facing a downward spiral,” said Buffy. “Maybe there’s something good in every event – the silver lining.”

First Congregational Church is located at 252 West Spain Street, just a few blocks west of the Plaza.