Santa Barbara County on Tuesday welcomed members of the public to a design workshop in Orcutt, seeking input on early plans for the city’s new public library.

More than 50 residents filled the Oasis Senior Center on Soares Avenue and offered their feedback on services, features and community needs for the long-awaited project.

The new library will be located on a portion of a 5.3-acre site the county purchased in September along Clark Avenue, just south of Orcutt Creek near the eastern edge of Old Town.

The site will be shared with the planned Oasis Senior Center. While the two projects are being developed separately, officials said the teams are working together on certain shared elements.

“They’re independent from each other,” Santa Barbara County project manager Ashton Ellis said. “We’re just trying to merge the process when it comes to outdoor space — to make sure each project has its own area, but also be able to do large programs that they both will hopefully have.”

Aaron Hanke, chief of staff for Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, told attendees that the library has been a top priority for Nelson since he took office six years ago. Hanke said that Orcutt is one of only two library branches in Santa Barbara County that operate out of a rented facility — the other being Guadalupe — and that the goal has long been to provide a permanent location.

Hanke also said the project has secured more than $6 million in initial funding, including county allocations, state and federal grants, and a private donation from a longtime library supporter, Penelope Lockridge Hartnell, who died in 2020.

Residents Share Vision for Future Library

Tuesday’s workshop allowed residents to interact directly with the architecture and planning teams from RRM Design Group and Noll & Tam Architects, leaders in the library’s design process.

Trina Goodwin, an architect with Noll & Tam, led the presentation and introduced the concept of the “21st century library,” an evolution of traditional libraries into flexible, inclusive spaces designed to meet a wide range of community needs.

Rather than just a place for books, she described the modern library as a “third space” or “community living room” where people of all backgrounds can gather for connection, creativity and support.

Goodwin emphasized that the design team was not there to impose outside ideas but to tailor the library to local needs.

“We’re not giving you the latest and greatest that is in any other place,” Goodwin told attendees. “We’re here tonight to hear what’s interesting to your community.”

After the presentation, attendees rotated through a series of four activity stations. Several featured photo boards showing design elements from other libraries. Residents were invited to place dot stickers on images they liked and add sticky notes with ideas or suggestions.

At a station focused on interior layout, residents gave feedback on window placement, seating options and room-specific amenities. Mike Sales, who said he has lived in Orcutt since 1972, said large windows were a natural fit for a library.

“Another thing I’m looking for — and I think I saw it — would be study corrals,” he said, referring to individual desks with privacy panels. “It’s a place to have some autonomy and privacy.”

Sales said he uses the current Orcutt branch at 175 S. Broadway but doesn’t stay to study there.

“It’s not the environment that I would look for,” he said. “I’d like something that felt more academic.”

At another station, attendees offered comments on vehicle entry points, pedestrian pathways and potential neighborhood connections directly onto a large map of the site. Some raised concerns about ensuring safe foot traffic from the nearby middle and high schools.

A final “Hopes and Dreams” station offered participants a chance to share any ideas or priorities not already covered. 

Alecia Gray, who said she moved to Orcutt a little more than a year ago, said she was drawing on experiences from other communities where she’s seen innovative library models. One of her top suggestions was a “Library of Things,” where patrons could check out hobby kits or tools, such as a bread-making set or a bike repair kit, without needing to purchase them.

“It’s a way to try out a new hobby without committing to the financial investment,” she said.

Gray also brought up the idea of a seed library, where community members could share and exchange seeds for home gardening.

Ellis said the planning teams will use the community’s input gathered on Tuesday to develop design concepts. The county plans to bring back the plans for feedback at another public workshop — likely in a similar format — sometime in March.