The City of Santa Clarita is officially launching of the Santa Clarita Public Library system at the Canyon Country, Newhall and Valencia branches, beginning on Friday, July 1. Celebratory grand re-openings will be hosted on Friday, July 1, for the Canyon Country Library at 10 a.m. and the Newhall Library at 2 p.m., with the Valencia Library opening on Tuesday, July 5, at 10 a.m.  The grand opening celebrations are free and open to the public.

“The provision of excellent library services in our community is a top priority for the City,” commented Mayor Marsha McLean. “In anticipation of opening day, the City vastly increased the inventory of library books and media, as well as service days and hours at the three branches.”




Opening day festivities for the Santa Clarita Public Library system include David Cousin the roaming juggler, James Burks, and local author/artist who will do a drawing demo from his book Gabby Gator.  At the Valencia opening, entertainment will be provided by the Santa Clarita Youth Symphony Chamber Group.  Guest’s at all three events will enjoy new displays, light refreshments and free commemorative book bags for the first 500 guests at each branch.

The City has spent $900,000 on new materials for the libraries, including books, magazines, DVDs, CDs and other media to assure that the opening day collection is robust.  Under the City’s new public library system, patrons will have access to over 1.1 million titles, which is an additional 90,000 more titles than under the former system.  Additionally, the City budgeted a substantial annual expenditure, reflecting an increase of 67 percent for the acquisition of new materials for our libraries every year. 

Library hours have been increased, with all three branches open on Sundays.  The Canyon Country branch will open at 9 a.m., Monday through Thursday.  The local libraries will have the benefit of a new partnership with LSSI, a professional library management company that currently provides services to 13 public library systems and 63 branch operations across the country, including the Library of Congress.

Experienced and credentialed employees will be staffed at the three local branches including new City librarian, Ed Kieczykowski, who brings 30 years of public library management experience, and who recently managed one of the largest library systems in California for 17 years.

To obtain a new free City of Santa Clarita Public Library card, fill out an online application at SantaClaritaLibrary.com or visit any of the City’s three library branches after July 1, 2011.

For more information about the new Santa Clarita Public Library System, contact the City’s library hotline at (661) 286-4055 or visit SantaClaritaLibrary.com.