Changes are coming to the Goleta Valley Library as it looks to renovate its building and update the services it provides.

The City of Goleta was awarded $4.2 million by the California State Library that will be used to update the library building.

The building, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, will be updated to be fully ADA-compliant. The improvements also will allow the library to upgrade its fire and life safety systems and the building’s lighting.

“This facility has done an incredible job of holding up [and] maintaining service, but it is due for some improvement,” city librarian Elizabeth Saucedo said.

The improvements will allow the library to stay modern, but also be safe and accessible for all patrons.

In addition to the money awarded by the state, the library received a matching donation from the City of Goleta and $250,000 from the Friends of the Goleta Valley Library.

It is too soon to tell when construction will begin, but an architectural design contract has been signed.

The changes to the library come under new leadership, with Saucedo and children’s librarian Kaeley Christensen.

The library, at 500 N. Fairview Ave., records between 13,000 and 15,000 visits every month. In addition to its book offerings, the library hosts events, guest talks, magic shows and its annual sleepover with stuffed animals dropped off overnight by their children guardians.

Saucedo joined the Goleta Valley Library in 2018 as the children’s librarian months after the library became independent.  

The City of Goleta chose to separate from the Santa Barbara library system in 2017 and establish the Goleta Valley Library as independent. It was built and first opened in 1972.

“We became an independent library in 2018, and over the past six years, we’ve had a significant period of growth where we now have branches in Buellton and Solvang. We have a book van that provides service to Isla Vista,” Saucedo said.

She was promoted to supervising librarian in 2022 before she was selected as the city librarian in February.

Saucedo describes herself as the kid who would spend recess in the library while all of the other kids were playing outside. One of her favorite memories as a kid was being allowed to go behind the circulation desk to change the library’s calendar.

“I always had a lot of library joy in my life. I grew up going to the library with my family and throughout school,” she said.  

Saucedo said she eventually realized she wanted to be a librarian and later earned a master’s degree in library and information science from San Jose State University.

The role was previously held by Allison Gray, who served as library director for 15 years. The role was reclassified from library director to city librarian when Saucedo took the position.

The children’s librarian, Christensen, joined the library in late 2023.

Christensen said she comes from a long line of teachers, but life took her in a different direction.

“When I had kids, I started volunteering at my children’s school library, and just a couple years after I started doing that, a position came open. So, I worked at the Mountain View Elementary School library as a library media specialist,” Christensen said.

She worked at Mountain View for five years, where she realized how much there was to learn about being a librarian.  

She decided to go back to school and eventually earned her master’s degree in library and information science at San Jose State.

“Shortly thereafter, the children’s librarian position came open, and this is where I took my kids when they were babies,” Christensen said. “We sat in the children’s area pulling books off the shelves for hours and playing with the trains, and it just really felt like it was the obvious choice. I feel like I have been here forever.”

She said her favorite kind of book is middle-grade fiction because it appeals to kids who are discovering the world and allows them to have adventures in a safe way.

Since joining the library, the thing that Saucedo and Christensen say they are most proud of is providing stability to the community, even as the library branched out on its own.

“I think it’s really impressive how we have managed to just be really consistent, really constant in the community. There’s never been like a wavering time. I think that speaks volumes to the support that we’ve gotten from the city, but also the staff that we have here,” Christensen said.

The library has continued providing services to the community through help from the City of Goleta and from donations.

One of the donations came from the John C. Mithun Foundation that allowed the library to focus on building a collection of material for emerging readers. The collection includes audio books about phonics, STEM and other topics to help kids learning to read.

Saucedo said that despite new technology, the library is trying to stay true to its mission of encouraging reading among kids by offering literacy support, reading aloud to kids and making reading a family activity.  

“Those things are tried and true. We’re continuing on an age-old tradition of those services, but finding ways to incorporate modern ways to increase access is something I think that we have really made a priority at our library,” Saucedo said.

One of the ways the library does that is through its online catalog, which includes millions of e-books and digital audiobooks.

Residents also can check out other items, such as virtual-reality headsets, cooking pans, hiking backpacks and even hiking passes.  

“That’s something that I think all of our staff are so passionate about and dedicated to,” Saucedo said. “There’s truly something for every single member of the community at your local library.”