Santa Maria's new library may be state-of-the-art but on Monday it was handwritten notes taped to bookshelves keeping the chaos in order.

City library staff and employees from the Recreation and Parks Department were on hand as the big move between the old library and the new facility began. Reference and nonfiction books were making the trip between the two buildings on hand-pushed carts and then unloaded on to the new shelving.

Ray Jaramillo was one of the volunteers posted at the front entrance of the new library monitoring who got in and answering questions.

“It's going to be very impressive,” he said of the new facility.

For most of the afternoon Jaramillo directed people to the old library, and talked to curious residents about features in the new library like the Friends of the Santa Maria Library shop and the expanded children's section, he said.

Inside the children's library, Glenda Stevens was perched on a counter painting a 5-foot by 18-foot mural of children and animals in a whimsical setting.

Stevens, who has been painting murals for more than 20 years, said the picture depicts her interpretation of the city's theme for the section - an enchanted forest.

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Her piece is the backdrop to the

fabricated tree that is the centerpiece of

the children's library.

As the countdown to the library opening continues, work is still being completed from interior columns near the reference desk to unloading furniture to putting on the last coats of exterior paint.

On the second floor of the new 59,850-square-foot facility, Dave Standley, reference library page, was unloading genealogy books. His section was marked by pieces of paper with the word genealogy and sections of Dewey Decimal System numbers.

Despite the warm conditions on the second floor - officials discovered the heat had inadvertently been turned on - the work was going pretty well and the organization was holding up, he said.

On the other side of the second floor, Kat Anthony, another part-time library page, was unloading nonfiction books.

A self-proclaimed lover of libraries, Anthony said she is hopeful that Santa Maria's grand opening will have people excited about libraries again.

In the meantime, she noted, there is “a whole lot to do to try to get organized.”

Santa Maria city officials are hosting a grand opening celebration Aug. 23. The festivities begin at 10 a.m. and the doors to the new library open at 11 a.m.

The event will include one more fundraising effort by the Library Fundraising Committee. A drawing is planned with a top prize of a first edition of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” signed by author J.K. Rowling. A second prize being offered is a 37-inch Aquos flat-screen TV. Drawing tickets are available for $20 at the front desk of the current library.

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santamariatimes.com.

July 29, 2008