The Pico Branch Library groundbreaking will be held on Wednesday, August 15, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. near the construction site of the new library at 2201 Pico Boulevard, in Virginia Avenue Park.

At the ceremony, representatives from the Pico Neighborhood Association and the Virginia Avenue Park Advisory Board will talk about the “opportunities the library brings to the park and the community.”

In fact, residents of the Pico Neighborhood wanted the library to be built in their neighborhood, rather than in the park, but they were overruled by Pico business interests and City Hall.

Designed by the Santa Monica firm of Koning Eizenberg Architecture, who previously redesigned the park, the one-story library will be oriented towards Pico Boulevard and consist of two buildings. The main 7,872 square-foot facility will house children’s, teen and adult collections; popular materials; a children’s area; reading areas; group study rooms; and public computers. Across the fire lane, a separate 818 square-foot community room will be used for story times, educational and cultural programs and will be available for rental by the public.

The two structures will be connected at the roofline with a trellis, creating a pedestrian breezeway. The first park in the country to receive a LEED silver rating, the Pico Branch Library and surrounding landscape will boast sustainable features and the project is seeking a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

For more information, contact the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600, or visit the Library’s Pico Branch Project website at smpl.org./picobranch.aspx.