The Community Celebrates Opening of Michael Towbes Library Plaza 

On November 3, supporters of the Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation gathered for a truly joyous event — the ribbon cutting for the Michael Towbes Library Plaza. After 15 years of discussions, plans, fundraising, and much-delayed construction, supporters celebrated. This was part of the grander and equally joyous Plaza Palooza street party, co-hosted by the Library Foundation and the City of Santa Barbara, which drew the community at large for entertainment, nonprofit booths, and, most importantly, the opportunity to experience this amazing new public space.

Campaign Co-Chairs Jim Jackson and Janet Garufis thanked the many donors and collaborators who enabled this to happen, with Jackson especially praising Library Director Jessica Cadiente for the vision and energy she supplied and Library Foundation Executive Director Lauren Trujillo for her patience, persistence, and attention to detail. 

Jackson reminded supporters of the vision: to create an open space for cultural and community events serving the entire community and for additional library programs. Trujillo added that the Plaza will be an inviting space for the community to connect and engage, and quoted David Lankes, “Bad libraries only build collections. Good libraries build services. Great libraries build communities.”

Anne Smith Towbes, wife of the late Michael Towbes, noted Michael’s generous philanthropy, his connection to so much of the community, and how everything he did was with a grateful and generous heart.

The excitement for the Plaza’s completion and for the possibilities it provides was widespread among the throngs of guests, who checked out the 10,000 square feet of programmable space, which has been shut off by fencing for nearly five years. The event was designed, according to Trujillo, to show off the Plaza as a community space where the sky is the limit on the things that can take place here. 

The event featured performances by CAMA, State Street Ballet, Flamenco Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Symphony, and Franklin Elementary School Folklórico Academy. About 50 nonprofits had booths, many staffed by the heads of organizations.

The Plaza will be available for community festivals, performances, concerts, public meetings, social gatherings, cultural events, art exhibits, and much more. Some of the library’s own programming can move outside. 

Presently, the S.B. Public Library partners with more than 60 community organizations to host free programming in its Faulkner Gallery and other indoor spaces. The Plaza opens a whole new chapter. Many nonprofits already have been requesting Plaza space. “It is definitely a hot commodity,” Trujillo shared.

The $5 million project was funded by the Library Foundation ($3.1 million) and the city ($1.9 million in Measure C funding). It was part of a larger project that includes a new ADA-compliant elevator and renovated lower-level staff area, both of which were funded by Measure C funding and are also complete. The Foundation raised another $1 million for Plaza maintenance, programs, and furniture.

The fundraising effort proceeded during COVID, which presented some challenges, according to Trujillo, but through Zoom, the community embraced the vision. Supporters understood that this was not a beautification project, Trujillo added, but rather a project to create an accessible space for the library to serve the community. 

Founded in 2012, the Library Foundation funds, on an ongoing basis, the Library on the Go and the S.B. Reads Program. It is presently seeking to raise funds for a Library of Things case to store the multitude of items that this program makes available to the community, such as museum and park passes, a telescope, and musical instruments. The Foundation seeks funds also for the continuing revitalization work at the Eastside Library.

In addition to fundraising, the Library Foundation plays an advocacy role, and with the library being threatened with cuts every year, Trujillo sees this role as critical. A public awareness campaign is planned to bring attention to the ongoing need for city funding to keep the library doors open.

For those who want to donate to the Plaza, it’s not too late. Donors’ names are etched in sandstone and engraved on bricks on the Plaza, and next year, there will be more engraving opportunities.