Ceremony Celebrates College’s New Library

Former Assemblyman Richard Katz had the honor of cutting the ceremonial red ribbon Thursday as local politicians and community supporters joined with Mission College officials to celebrate the long-awaited opening of the school’s new $12-million Library and Learning Resources Center.

“What you see behind me is our doorway to the future,” Mission President William Norlund told about 200 people who gathered on a summerlike morning for the occasion. “This facility is at the cutting edge of technology. It puts the northeast San Fernando Valley population ahead of the city and ahead of the state.”

The 57,000-square-foot building is three times the size of the school’s current library, officials said. When it opens to students next month, it will house more than 300 Internet-linked computers as well as a teleconferencing room and audiovisual studio.

The three-story stucco and green steel structure was built in a modern style featuring a two-story atrium entrance that provides natural lighting throughout the interior.

Construction began in 1994 and was paid for with funds from Proposition 153, a $900-million higher education bond measure approved by voters in 1992.

Thursday’s event took on a festive mood as several speakers praised the new building, holding it up as a symbol of Mission’s progress since its founding in 1975, when classes were taught in a collection of scattered storefronts.

“To see this now is almost incomprehensible,” Katz said.

“I had to personally drive the chancellor and college trustees around in my car to show them that Valley [College] and Pierce [College] were not real solutions for people living in San Fernando or Sylmar,” added Katz, whom Norlund praised for his efforts on behalf of the school.

“This should be very beneficial--the library we have now is so limited,” said Mission student Monica Vasallo.

“Right now, when I have reports due, I go to the Burbank Public Library,” she said. “Now, I will definitely stay here.”