News Release

City opens “Storefront Library”

On Monday, March 27, 2006, at 10 a.m., the Moreno Valley Public Library will open a “Storefront Library” located at 23591-A Sunnymead Boulevard. The Library is located in leased space inside the Moreno Valley Plaza, just east of Graham Street. The Storefront Library is a short-term measure to provide library services that the community has gone without for nearly half a year.

“We appreciate the patience the community has shown us during this six-month period of closure,” said Library Director, Cynthia Pirtle. “Due to the size of the Storefront Library, seating is extremely limited, and we won’t have all the services we used to, but staff will provide the very best service possible,” Pirtle said.

The Storefront Library will provide the following services:

Limited reference and circulation services.
Limited Internet access.
Intra and Inter library book loans.
Access to the entire children’s and young adult book collections.
Access to recorded books on tape and CDs.
Access to VHS and DVDs.
Access to the entire Spanish collection.
Access to the “Friends of the Library” used book selection.
Access to some adult best sellers.

The hours are:

10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
1-5 p.m. on Sunday.

The Library on Alessandro Boulevard was closed six months ago due to water intrusion, so officials explored various alternatives to provide library services in the community.

The City developed a three phase approach to handle library services. Phase one is the Storefront Library: a short-term solution, which will provide key library services while the City builds a larger facility. Phase two is the Interim Library. Options for this phase are currently being explored, but the Interim Library will serve as a stop-gap measure while the City obtains funding for phase three. The third phase is building a New Main Library. This will be a permanent structure located at the Civic Center Site, between the Conference and Recreation Center and the Public Safety Building.

The old Library on Alessandro Boulevard will be boarded up and fenced at the end of the month.

Citizens with Moreno Valley Public Library Cards can still use their cards to borrow materials from the libraries in the Inland Library Network, which includes libraries in both Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The branches nearest Moreno Valley are the Perris Branch, located at 163 E. San Jacinto, in the city of Perris, and the Woodcrest Branch, located at 17024 Van Buren, in the city of Riverside.

For more information, please call the Media and Communications Office at 951.413.3053.