Residents Fearing For Safety Push For New Orangevale Library Location
ORANGEVALE (CBS13) — Neighbors in Orangevale are pushing for a new library, saying the current location isn't safe for families. Currently, the town's only library is tucked just off of Greenback Lane.
"There are some drug deals that happen," said Greg Jones, who lives nearby. "You can watch it happen and stuff. It makes you not want to go and you don't want to send your kids down there!"
It's a place for learning and studying and many children in Orangevale spend their afterschool time in the library. But Kelley Carpenter says she doesn't like how many homeless people gather outside after dusk.
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"I know it's a hardship for a lot of people but this is not the place to camp!" she told CBS13.
The cry from the community is to build a new library! But Rivkah Sass, Sacramento Public Library Director, said building a new one would likely cost anywhere from $12 million to $15 million. CBS 13 asked her if that's even doable in the near future.
"No, it's not," she said. "I mean right now, there just isn't adequate funding to do what our dream is."
Still, it's up to county leadership to decide on where to build.
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"We need a place for the community to come together and the library now is just not that place," said Matt Hedges, Chief of Staff for County Supervisor Sue Frost.
According to Hedges, the current library is 4,000 square feet but they need double that amount to justify moving locations.
"Orangevale is a spread-out community with not a lot of buildings that we can move into," he said.
And while many expected a new library near the Orangevale Community Center, Hedges said it's more financially feasible to spend a few hundred thousand dollars renovating an existing building.
"We're not comfortable waiting 10 or 15 years for a library, we want something now," he said.
We reached out to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and they said they've only had three calls for service to the library in the last three months. And if neighbors have safety concerns in the area they shouldn't hesitate to call authorities.
Meanwhile, Frost is committed to finding a space as soon as possible and moving in by next year.
