As a City of Sunnyvale staff member, I have been silent on this blog for awhile so as not to confuse these entries with the political campaign for the Sunnyvale Library of the Future, which was led by community members. By now most of you have heard that Measure B, the City’s ballot initiative that would have funded the construction of Sunnyvale’s Library of the Future, did not pass. The majority of Sunnyvale’s voters, 59%, favored the new library but requirements in California stipulate that a super-majority must approve such a project (67%).

It’s been difficult to digest this loss of a dream. I believe that it could have brought a wonderful reality to Sunnyvale. Located just two blocks from the new downtown, the new library would have helped create a stronger hub for commercial, educational and leisure activities, all in a one-mile radius. Receiving 59% approval for the library is heartening though. With any other ballot measure, 59% would have been considered a huge success. I sincerely hope that this thought will not be lost on those who wonder if library services are valued in Sunnyvale. Our library is being used now more than ever, and I believe the same is true of other libraries in the Silicon Valley area. Yes, even so in the age of the Internet, and perhaps because of it. The needs identified in the Sunnyvale Library of the Future study still exist. How they will be addressed in the future is not clear at this point in time.

So, for now we move on to a new chapter in our Library. I say a dream is lost but that’s only temporary. Dreams have a way of reoccurring and revising themselves. What we have now is another opportunity for the Library to understand the concerns of the community and to re-examine the possibilities for future library services. I will retire the Sunnyvale Library of the Future blog for the foreseeable future. However, I hope to give you a glimpse of the Sunnyvale Library, its services, plans and people. So, starting early next year (2008) please look out for a new blog from me called, Sunnyvale Public Library Today, which you may find at: http://sunnyvalelibrarytoday.blogspot.com/. I hope to bring to you my perspective on the interesting, fun and challenging things happening in our library from time to time.

Thanks for reading along with me, and I hope to see you in the near future.

Deborah L. Barrow
Director
Sunnyvale Public Library