New library coming to OCC

Orange Coast College will conduct groundbreaking ceremonies for its $33-million Learning Resource Center on Tues., March 14.

The two-story, 88,777-square-foot center will replace the college’s Norman E. Watson Library, which closed down more than five years ago. That facility is undergoing renovation and will become the campus’ new Watson Hall Student Services Building. It will open next summer.

OCC has temporarily relocated its library to a 25,000-square-foot facility ? consisting of 32 portable structures ? situated on the northern perimeter of the campus.

The Learning Resource Center groundbreaking ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the building’s site, west of the Arts Center. The featured speaker will be retired charter OCC faculty member Giles Brown. Brown was dean of OCC’s Social Sciences Division from 1948-60. Brown’s late wife, Beth Cosner Brown, was the college’s first librarian.

Brown; OCC president Robert Dees; and Claudia Jackson, wife of the former dean of OCC’s Library, the late Donald Ackley; will wield the first shovels of dirt. Construction on the facility will get underway shortly thereafter, and the building is expected to open during the fall semester of 2007.

Architect for the project is tBP Architecture of Newport Beach. Construction manager is C.W. Driver Builders of Irvine.

About $21 million of the funding is coming from state capital outlay funds. Slightly more than $12 million will be provided by Measure C, which was approved by local voters on the November 2002 ballot.

The new facility will include a central library area, a large study area, computer labs, a 100-seat lecture hall, an archive storage area, book storage and faculty and staff offices.

Children’s center hosts benefit book sale

OCC’s Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center will host a benefit book sale Monday through Friday, March 13-17.

A wide variety of quality children’s books, geared for infants through second-graders, will be sold. Books will be on display in the center from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The public is invited to participate.

“These scholastic books are wonderful and inexpensive additions to a child’s library, and make terrific gifts,” said Vicki Borthwick, assistant director of the children’s center. Proceeds from the sale will go to support the center’s programs.

OCC’s nationally acclaimed Harry and Grace Steele Children’s Center is in a beautiful, 13,000-square-foot facility on the southern edge of the campus, off Merrimac Way. Parking is available in OCC’s Lot D.

Established in 1969, the children’s center provides affordable and comprehensive child development services for the children of Orange Coast College students. It serves about 160 children every semester. Fees, set by the state of California, are on a sliding scale based upon income and ability to pay. Most OCC student-parents who use the program are well below the poverty line.

OCC sponsors spring university visits

The transfer center on OCC’s campus is conducting tours this spring to eight Southern California university campuses. The tours are designed for Orange Coast students who are exploring transfer options.

OCC is annually one of the nation’s leaders in transferring students to four-year colleges and universities. Last year, Orange Coast ranked second out of 109 California community colleges in the total number of students it transferred to the 23-campus California State University system and the nine-campus University of California system.

The transfer center is offering tours this spring to the USC (Fri., March 24), San Diego State University (Fri., April 7), Cal State Fullerton (Sat., April 8), Cal Poly Pomona (Fri., April 14), UC San Diego (Fri., April 21), UC Irvine (Sat., April 22), UCLA (Fri., April 28), and Cal State Long Beach (Fri., May 12).

Transportation is provided free of charge. OCC students wishing to participate must sign up for tours in advance at the transfer center in the Counseling and Admissions Annex. A $5 refundable deposit is required for each tour. For information, phone (714) 432-5894.

The transfer center is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays; from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays.