The books of the California State Library fill more than 40 miles of shelving, and all of those volumes are now being moved from a warehouse in West Sacramento to the newly renovated Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building on Capitol Mall in Sacramento.
We have to move four million books plus all the furniture- a lot of the original furniture that was in this building.” Gerry Maginnity is acting State Librarian.
He says the four-year, $55 million dollar renovation has been worth the wait. “They’ve done a superb job. They've paid real, real close attention to detail. It’s been restored; they brought back some of the features that were taken out in the 60’s when they put air conditioning in. And we’re really happy to be here. It’s going to be a real treasure for downtown Sacramento and for the whole state.”
The renovation to the 1928 building includes better security and accessibility as well as a special sprinkler system to protect books and artwork. Maginnity says new and more natural lighting was also included. “I haven’t been in this building in four years and you go into certain areas and you do suddenly notice details that you didn’t see before.”
The building is expected to re-open to the public sometime this fall. It also houses the 3rd district court of appeal and is a part-time residence for the California Supreme Court.
Capital Public Radio's Insight Host Beth Ruyak took a special tour of the newly renovated building. Listen to that here.
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