It’s been eight months since the Goleta Valley Library temporarily closed its main location for renovations, yet the building shows no signs of construction. 

Matt Fore, General Services director with the City of Goleta, said construction could start in the coming months. 

The city closed the bid process for the project in November. City staff is expected to present a proposed contract with the lowest bidder to the City Council on Jan. 20 for approval.  

“Obviously, no construction is happening yet because council has not approved the contract,” he said. 

Fore added that while there hasn’t been visible construction, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation at the library site at 500 N. Fairview Ave.

“It’s a big job on a 53-year-old building that hasn’t seen a lot of renovation work or maintenance work in the past several decades, so that was a lot of what we were doing in the interim,” he said. 

The library first temporarily closed in April after the City of Goleta received a $4.2 million grant for a renovation project including restroom upgrades, modernizing and replacing the HVAC systems, new lighting and security, new doors and windows, and new exterior paint. 

Additionally, library renovations need to be completed by June 2027, per the grant requirement.

Since July, the library has been operating at the Goleta Valley Express at 6500 Hollister Ave.

The library still needs to raise more than $1 million for the project because the grant guidelines do not allow for the purchase of fixtures and furnitures, city librarian Elizabeth Saucedo told Noozhawk.

To close the gap in funding, the Goleta City Council approved the launch of a $750,000 capital campaign to start in the fall through December.

After closing, Fore said the entire building, with the exception of a couple of shelves, had to be cleared out.

Currently, storage containers full of library materials sit in front of the main library site with the remainder of the materials moved to the temporary library location on Hollister Avenue.

“Vacating the building was huge, allowing engineers, architects and potential bidders to have access to the property in the early stages to finish the plans and specifications for the construction work,” he said.

Fore said completing the bid process took multiple months alongside finishing the plans and specifications for the project.

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