FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles City College Celebrates Ground Breaking for its New $22 Million Library - Resource Center with Ceremony
The Martin Luther King Jr. Library - Resource Center Received Partial Funding from the Los Angeles Community College District's Proposition A/AA Bond Construction Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                

Dec. 21, 2006 (HOLLYWOOD, Calif.) - Equipped with golden shovels, Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) and Los Angeles City College (LACC) officials dug into the dirt of the future site of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library - Resource Center to cap a ground breaking ceremony for the campus's new facility.  The new three-story, $22 million structure will be located on the north end of the East Hollywood campus and will replace the existing library built in the mid 1930's.

"The Martin Luther King Jr. Library - Resource Center will be the one of the centerpiece buildings on campus," said Sylvia Scott-Hayes, vice president of the LACCD Board of Trustees.  "The library will become an oasis of learning, a resource of information and knowledge for our students, and a place where they can congregate, study and learn."

"With three stories of space, our new library will provide many amenities for college library patrons," said Dr. Steve Maradian, president of LACC.   "In addition to housing the library’s collection of 150,000 books, it will have more than 150 computer stations for internet and database research, as well as many individualized carrels and group study rooms."

The new 64,000 sq. ft. building will include electronic classrooms to create new opportunities in teaching and learning by integrating computer, multimedia, audio-visual, and network technologies. The building will also house computer and general study areas in addition to administrative offices.  It will also have design elements and sustainable design components to increase energy efficiency and decrease waste.  The new library received $18 million in State funds and was partially funded with Proposition A/AA bond. It is estimated to be completed in early 2008.

"This library was named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who had an amazing dream,” noted Barbara Vasquez, library chair for LACC.  “Our college also has a dream: to transform this campus and help our students achieve their own dreams for success.  Our new library will help those dreams come true. "

"With more than 12,000 people visiting our current library, the idea of having a new library on campus with state-of-the-art technologies, amenities and resources is extremely exciting,” said Ryan Hall-Allen, LACC's Associated Student Organization (ASO) president,  “The benefits to students and the surrounding community are tremendous."

The Los Angeles Community College District’s construction and modernization projects receive funding from Propositions A/AA, two bond measures overwhelmingly approved by Los Angeles voters in 2001 and 2003.  Propositions A /AA are providing more than $2.2 billion for new construction and renovations at each of the nine community colleges. For more information, click here.

High resolution photo available upon request.

Breaking ground for the new MLK Library at Los Angeles City College on December 13 are (l-r) LACCD Chancellor Darroch F. Young, LACCD Board members Sylvia Scott-Hayes, Georgia Mercer, Kelly G. Candaele, Nancy Pearlman, and Mona Field, LA City College President Dr. Steve Maradian, LACCD Student Trustee Luis Gomez, Associated Student Organization President Ryan Hall-Allen, LACC library chair Barbara Vasquez and Project Architect Gilbert Rocca.

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