I support the effort to get the library reopened. It's a valuable resource for the under served community, as well as our youth and elders. Please make this a priority to reopen as soon as possible.

I support this accelerated construction contract to hasten the reopening of the Colonial Heights Library, a critical community resource. Oak Park is already underserved by our library system given the closure of our neighborhood library many years ago, and Colonial Heights has long been the main library used by community members. Please expedite this and other work to the best of the City's ability to reopen this library.

Thank you,

Adrian Rehn
Oak Park resident
District 5

Please make the passage of this measure a priority! Our community needs the Colonial Heights Library back up and running. From our youngest to eldest neighbors, we all need the services offered by a community library.

Please pass this measure so our library can be reopened as soon as possible! I have lived in this community since 2008, and it is a saving grace here providing necessary services to children, families and individuals! The fire and subsequent closure of our library has been a tragic misfortune.
“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better” – Sidney Sheldon

Dear Sacramento City Council members:

My name is Daniela Lopez-Garcia, and I am a mother of three young children, a five year old boy and three year old twin girls. I urge you to approve this change order to fund the repairs needed to promptly reopen the Colonial Heights Library.

My own childhood was made richer by multiple weekly visits to Colonial Heights Library. It was a place where I fell in love with reading, where curiosity was encouraged, and where community connections were built. Now, as a parent, I want my children, and all the children of our neighborhood, to have that same opportunity and gift.

The closure of the library has deeply affected the every day life of my family and our community. The Colonial Heights Library has long provided vital and essential services, including children’s story time, literacy programs to adult education, internet access, and a safe, welcoming gathering space for all. Losing access to these books, resources, and programs has been a tremendous loss.

Libraries are more than buildings. Libraries are the heartbeat of a community. A author, Neil Gaiman, wrote, “Libraries are the thin red line between civilization and barbarism.”

I respectfully urge you to approve the change order to fund the repairs and restore this essential community hub, Colonial Heights Library. Reinvesting in Colonial Heights Library is reinvesting in our neighborhood, our families, and our shared future.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Daniela N. Lopez-Garcia
Mother of three and lifelong Colonial Heights Library patron

Urge you to vote to pass this change order. The community has already been without this vital touchstone for over a year. The next closest/alternative library branches are not on the bus line. We need Colonial Heights back online, asap.

I support passing this motion in order to expedite repairs to the Colonial Heights Library. It is hard to understand why this solution to the delayed repair of the library was not implemented sooner. So many individuals and families depend on this library as a community center and an intellectual lifeline. We depend on our elected officials and the City staff to proactively problem solve issues, not let them languish in bureaucratic
limbo.

Sidney Sheldon says, “Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve and contribute to improving our quality of life." In our dynamic urban neighborhood, the Colonial Heights Library was a hub for building social and intellectual capital. It was a place where people came to learn and share. Many of our most vulnerable neighbors relied on it as a safe place to get news and information, to search for jobs, and to access services.

It is where many of us vote and meet and access essential materials. We have lost a vital supply of energy in our community, and we need it back open this year.

Albert Einstein says, “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” We know where our Tahoe Park, Oak Park, Colonial Heights, East Village, Lemonhill (and beyond) library is. We also know that it has been closed for far too long. I urge you to find the resources to reopen immediately.

I am in support of the change order being offered. I believe taking funds from measure U is appropriate to fix this situation. I was ask to include the Friends of the Library the main group in this request to fund the completion of the library. Unfortunately, they do not have the resources as the City and Councilmembers. I want to see our library back into the community full functional and operating at it best for the community. We have new housing being built in our area, this means added families, that need the services of a fully functional library. Please do not hold it up any longer, get measure U onboard and let's provide needed services to the community. I am in agreement with the Friends of the Library at Colonial Heights, we need our library back within a reasonable time limit, and a commemoration of activities to celebrate the unity, and cultures, and importance of community in solidarity.

Correspondence received by the City Clerk's Office

The Colonial Heights Library is sorely missed in the nearby communities. Please vote yes to expedite the reopening of the library and the continuation of all the great things it does for the area.

I strongly urge the council to vote yes on this change order. Our beloved community asset, the Colonial Heights Library, is greatly missed. Please vote to reopen our library!

Mayor Kevin McCarty
Councilmember Lisa Kaplan
Councilmember Roger Dickinson
Councilmember Karina Talamantes
Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum
Councilmember Caity Maple
Councilmember Eric Guerra
Councilmember Rick Jennings
Councilmember Mai Vang

RE: Agenda Items: 26 Change Order 1: Colonial Heights Library Fire Repair (C13900000) File ID: 2025-01642

My name is Faye Wilson Kennedy. I am a member of the Friends of Colonial Heights Library and served as the past chair of the Colonial Heights Friends group. Today, I am writing to encourage you to vote Yes and support the construction, renovation, and reopening efforts for our beloved Colonial Heights Library as soon as possible.

Thank you for the opportunity to share the following comments:

It’s been over a year since our beloved library closed because of a fire. The Colonial Heights Library served as a vital hub for several neighborhoods in Council Districts 5 and 6. We miss our cherished library and the outstanding staff who treated all visitors and community members—both housed and unhoused—with dignity and respect. Additionally, we appreciate Peter Coyle and his SPL administrative team for their efforts in supporting our library.

We miss our beloved Library, which hosted our quarterly meetings and many community events, including pancake breakfasts, ice cream socials, neighborhood meetings, block parties, and provided tutoring for school-age children. It also offered family game nights, mothers’ groups in English and Spanish, prom dress events, and a safe place for school-age children and teens. Community members voted at the Colonial Heights Library and learned firsthand about gardening by volunteers who maintain our beautiful community garden with love.

As a concerned community member, I have two critical questions: when will our Library reopen again, and will our beloved Library be a victim of Sacramento City’s budget deficit?

Ultimately, libraries hold a special meaning and purpose for my family. Migrating from the deep and segregated South, libraries were not always open and available to non-whites. More than sixty years ago, my parents selected Sacramento for three reasons: UCD, Sacramento State, and free libraries open to all. Our daughter spent many hours at the Colonial Heights Library, and the library hosted her graduation gathering from San Jose State in 2017.

We miss our Library, and when will it reopen?

Cordially, and thank you for your consideration and attention!

Faye Wilson Kennedy, Community Member/

The opportunity for knowledge and power in Colonial Heights has a large hole in it. Please help restore this resource for all of our neighbors with a yes vote today.

I am a resident of Colonial Heights. Our neighborhood is looking forward to our library reopening! Its absence has been felt for too long. Thank you for your vote to move repairs forward.

Please support this measure so the library can reopen. Not only is this my local library but it's also where I vote. Everytime I visited this library it was full of people. This is a resource solely missed by myself and the surrounding community.

Colonial Heights Library has been sitting, waiting, far too long to be re-opened. This end of town has suffered much and the loss of our library added to it. The kids, the seniors, everyone needs this library functioning again. Please, do the right thing and get this done.

As a former weekly visitor to the Colonial Heights branch library, I urge the council to approve needed repairs to one of our most important civic services. The library has been closed for far too long. Community is built on gathering places like parks and libraries. You already ignore the safety of our streets, at least give us back this place of peace and learning.

We are a family of 5, including 3 teenagers who have been faithfully going to this library since we moved to this neighborhood 2,5 years ago. One of the reasons we picked this neighborhood was actually because of the library. When the fire happened, my 15 years old child had been interning at the library for several months and was volunteering there for the summer, serving free lunches to kids from the community. My retired husband would go almost everyday to just hang out, pick the newest book and meet with other library fans.
We have lost more than a year of services from the library. The library is an anchor to this community and needs to reopen now.

The loss of this library has been felt citywide. Repairs have taken far too long and this needs to be approved and repairs need to be expedited. Support of approval is a no-brainer