The new El Gabilan Library is a beautiful, modern haven for the community.

Last week Saturday, the Salinas Public Library system’s newly rebuilt El Gabilan Library opened with a fanfare that its community education manager, Ernesto Lizaola, compared to Black Friday. He estimates 1,500 people attended. The demand for a new library (the old one was built in 1966) had been mounting for years, and the new building is a marvel

It’s six times bigger now, two stories tall, shaped like a crescent, with the outside curve facing North Main Street and the inside curve cradling a parking lot. The marquee reads, “Biblioteca | Library.”

Its configuration and features were shaped by community feedback, including through library and community service commissioners like Joey Martinez, who represents District 3 and was part of the groundbreaking in 2018.

“The [county] brought everything before us,” he said. “The meetings were televised. It was a real dialogue, really productive.”

The first floor is occupied by areas for children, youth and teens. The thin carpeting is a mosaic of sectional, replaceable hexagonal tiles in different color schemes. At the north end is the teen center, with big windows facing the street (and, ironically, McDonald’s). Its shelves are loaded with graphic novels, young adult books and manga; in one corner is a Fitdesk exercise bike that lets patrons read while pedaling. It’s a reclusive area.

“In community surveys, teens said they wanted their own space,” Lizaola says. “They wanted flexibility and a place to do homework.”

The bookshelves of the kids; area are tall (there are wheeled footstools to reach higher shelves), made of smooth hardwood, lit by LEDs. Four computers are loaded with educational software.

The west-facing wall of the kids section is made up of windows looking out to an enclosed outdoor play yard. The south wall has honeycomb shaped recesses that, last Sunday, day two of the new library, kids were sitting inside of. (A staff member asked another if that was OK; the answer, “For now it is.”) A kids lounge is furnished with new modular chairs and sofas – all cushion and upholstery – that they can reconfigure.

Next to all that are accessible restrooms with state-of-the-art sink spouts. Next to that, a community room that can be reserved, with removable chairs and tables, and a refrigerator and sink. The community room and restrooms have a separate entrance and can be closed off from the rest of the library by a retractable rolling gate, so it can be used outside of library hours.

Lizaola says some kids will be at the library from after-school to closing, so they built an outdoor play space for them to run around and be noisy. It’s like a backyard with curvy landscaping, mulch, artificial grass, pavement and a tiny amphitheater. It’s going to be cordoned off by a gate from the adult section.

The second floor is mostly for adults. There is a deck with tables and chairs that offer a sunset view. Inside there’s a faux fireplace surrounded by chairs, and rows and rows of bookshelves with endcaps and book stands that display some books with the covers facing out.

On the curved outer wall of the adult floor, facing North Main, tables and chairs take advantage of the sunlight coming in the windows. It’s augmented by overhead lights in the shape of halos.

“We wanted it to be an inviting, safe, comfortable gathering place,” Lizaola said. “The architects were thoughtful.”

The other side of the second floor is lined with group study rooms of various sizes, the largest one the dimensions of a conference room. The rooms come equipped with 4K TV screens, AppleTV, teleconferencing and digital media capabilities. Outside of the windows, the Gabilan Mountain Range – from which the library gets its name – can be seen. A digital studio classroom was furnished with six desks and chairs, ready for desktop computers loaded with a suite of design, media and web software.

There is a makerspace lab with a 3D printer, a laser cutter (it can etch images into just about any surface), a sewing machine, a robotics kit. There is a corner of tile flooring with stools and a counter where patrons can have snacks or a drink.

One young man carrying a skateboard seemed awed as he took it all in.

“This is awesome!” he said. “I used to skateboard [here] from the mall.”

Some things are works-in-progress. Sunday, Feb. 23, the day after the opening, the self-checkout kiosks sported handwritten messages that the credit card machines for paying fines weren’t working. Upon trying to check out some books, the touch display timed out early. Two glass doors to the backyard are marked “emergency exit only” but that is an error. The Friends of the Salinas Public Library have a bookstore on the first floor, but it’s not open yet. Because the building is new, library staff are waiting to see how the community will use the services contained within, and what they will want and need in the future.

Will there need to be more than two reference computers? What kind of technology classes will be in demand? It’s a living, evolving building, a balance between design and utility, gleaming and comforting, a beautiful retreat for learning that Salinas needs and deserves.

EL GABILAN LIBRARY is open daily (10am-6pm Mon, Fri, Sat; noon-8pm Tue, Thu; noon-6pm Wed; 1-6pm Sun). 1400 North Main St., Salinas. 758-7302, salinaspubliclibrary.org