By ASHLEY TRUJILLO
Daily Press Staff Writer
Progress is continuing on plans for a new public library in Artesia.
The city council met last night to listen to a presentation from the architect on the project, Jose Zelaya. He reported that he has been working with the building committee on three main points concerning the project: building programming, site development and building design.
The building programming, which serves as an instrument to properly size the library and as a guide for design, includes several components. Zelaya said part of the programming involved learning from Artesia citizens about “what they would like to see in their library.” Libraries from other areas of the same size were also used for comparison on the project. Thirdly, the programming included population data from the U.S. Census to help determine the size of the facility.
The data was used to predict population growth for the next 20 years. He reported that a three percent growth was calculated, making the estimated area population a total of 20,471 in 2030. Zelaya anticipated that 26,436 square feet would be needed to make the space sufficient for future growth. The current library is 13,000 square feet.
“We need to know how big, ideally, the building would need to be to serve Artesia in 20 years,” he said. … For the rest of the story, subscribe in print and on the web.
