Community celebrates as Palm Springs opens temporary library at Rimrock Plaza

Palm Springs opened its temporary main library location Monday morning at Rimrock Plaza with a handful of regular patrons waiting at the doors, celebratory gifts from community supporters and a full slate of services maintained despite the move to a smaller space.

The 6,000-square-foot library at 4721 East Palm Canyon Dr. houses 15,000 items selected from the city’s total collection of 90,000 items, with the remainder stored in a warehouse on city property. It’s opening coincides with the closure of the city’s main library — off Sunrise Way — for renovations that are expected to last at least 18 months.

Community support was evident throughout the day Monday, with former Library Board member Ron Willison and Palm Springs Director of Library Services Jeannie Kays’ husband bringing flowers while Kays was being interviewed, and a regular library visitor presenting a special two-layer cake shaped like books with “Next Chapter” written in frosting.

Kays said the library used a scientific approach to determine which materials to include at the temporary location.

“We ran reports for some of our collections, like fiction, nonfiction,” Kays said. “We ran some reports to find what were the top circulating items, the DVDs, what were the top circulating items for the kids books.”

For children’s materials, staff focused on visual appeal and condition, selecting items based on “the cute factor” while also running circulation reports. The library ensured its nonfiction collection remained balanced across subject areas.

All library services continue at the new location, including computer and Wi-Fi access, printing, passport acceptance services, the Friends of the Library bookstore, story time, teen programming and adult programming. Some teen and adult programs will be conducted through community outreach and partnerships.

The library is also introducing a new service called STEAM To Go, featuring 20 individually themed educational kits for families. Each kit contains a book and toys, and patrons use checkout cards to request specific bags from the front desk to prevent mixing of materials.

“We want these to go home with the families,” Kays said.

Kays has been with the Palm Springs Public Library for 13 years and last opened a new library location when she worked at Palm Desert library and helped create a mini branch.

She described her feelings about opening day Monday as “excitement, happiness, joy, relief, all of those jumbled up together.”

Despite its move away from the central part of the city, Kays said many residents expressed satisfaction with the new location in South Palm Springs.

That positive response has Kays thinking about what could happen in the future.

“Maybe we can get a north branch,” she said. “Maybe that’s something that the economics of our city improve so much that we can afford to have a south branch and a north branch and the main library, like we used to have in the 60s and 70s.”

The temporary library maintains the same operating hours as the previous location, remaining open six days a week. For details, turn here.

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