Hold Groundbreaking for New Mendota Library

An artist's rendering of the new Mendota Branch Library, locaed on Belmont Ave., just east of Derrick.

Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson was MC for the event.

Mendota Council representatives Yvette Quiroga, Joseph Riofrio and Robert Silva were on hand.

Mendota Unified Board President Sergio Valdez speaks.

Library Representative Karen Bosch Cobb.

Below: Officials and even some of the school children attending the ceremony took turns wielding the traditional gold shovels during the groundbreaking ceremony.

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MENDOTA, May 26 - Groundbreaking ceremonies for a new Mendota Library building were held this morning. Over 50 dignitaries and two or three bus loads of local school children attended the ceremony, on Belmont Ave. just east of Derrick.

The new library will replace Mendota’s current facility, in use since 1956. The new building will provide more than 12 times the space, expanding from the current 960 square foot building next door to City Hall, to one with 12,635 square feet, located a stones throw from the Mendota High campus.

The new building will have computer, career and copy centers, a separate children’s area, a young adult space, a family literacy center, a ‘quiet room’ and a meeting room with outdoor patio space. The facility will be staffed by a librarian, two assistants and a part time aide.

Mendota Mayor Joseph Riofrio said that with the new library the town will be "turning a corner."

Funds for the $5.4 million project is from Fresno County Public Library Measure B , The State of California, Mendota Unified School Dist., and the Friends of the Library.

Mendota has had a library since 1911, although the facilities have not been impressive. City Councilman Robert Silva recalled that in his youth the library was a small area in the lower part of a barn. "What a difference for our kids," he said Friday.