PICO Neighborhood Association
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We are a homegrown, grassroots voice with a community heart. We are neighbors working together to improve the quality of life and participate
in local decisions that affect us.

Annual Membership Meeting
June 15, 2013 • 3:30 - 5:30

at Virginia Avenue Park, Thelma Terry Center
Come meet neighbors, see what's happening in the Pico Neighborhood, and ways you can get involved!

 

Pico Blvd branch Public Library, ground breaking
at Virginia Park



Remarks by Irma Carranza, PNA Board member

This is an exciting occasion for us in the Pico Neighborhood. On behalf of the Pico Neighborhood Association and its members, we thank the founders of PNA and the many board members who served throughout the years for initiating the conversation and having the vision to see the pico neighborhood with its own library.  While it took many years to get here, we are here today making this happen in our neighborhood. I thank current PNA board members for their diligence in keeping the conversation alive and the vision in sight. It's a testament to both hope and hard work. That of a community to persevere and of a city to be responsive.The Pico Neighborhood master plan created by residents in the early 80s stated that residents wanted a supermarket and a library in the Pico Neighborhood.  Ralph's was built and residents could then shop for groceries within walking distance of their homes and now we will have - our library. This community asset will bring neighbors together, much like what the creation of Virginia Avenue Park has done. We envision parents bringing their kids here for story time, residents joining a book club with their neighbors and the library being an important resource for students.  The new library is an opportunity to strengthen school-readiness for the children in the neighborhood thereby  having longterm positive impacts for generations to come.

We hope the Pico library will be an opportunity for partnerships with the nearby schools to ensure that students have access to the necessary books to help them be successful in school. We hope that this will be an opportunity for the SANTA MONICA MALIBU UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT  and Santa Monica College to work in collaboration with the Pico library for the success of all students. 

And, lastly but truly importantly, we want to thank former city manager Lamont Ewell for working with us and city staff in prioritizing the library, and to city manager Rod Gould who promised us this would stay a priority and for all his work in seeing it through, despite the discontinuance of the Redevelopment funding.  In a time where libraries are closing down in many other cities, the commitment of city leaders to build a library in the Pico Neighborhood says a lot to our residents. It says, "We believe this neighborhood deserves a library. The Pico Neighborhood deserves to have what other neighborhoods in the city have,  not less." Thank you to all the Councilmembers, in particular Kevin McKeown for his support and commitment to this project throughout the years. Thank you to the various city department staff who listened to residents during the community workshops,  and to all the residents who engaged in the process.
We look forward to working with Greg Mullen and the Santa Monica library staff to have the inside of the library tell the history of the Pico Neighborhood and the people who have lived here. This is what residents requested during the community workshops. We look forward to seeing book collections that are reflective of the demographics of the Pico Neighborhood and programming that engages toddlers through seniors.

We can also use this opportunity to increase the city's intern program by hiring locally for some of the positions that will make up the Pico library staff and help to grow the internship program to its original numbers as compared to when it first started in the early nineties.

It is a great day in the Pico Neighborhood! We look forward to a community celebration at its opening next year!
Thank you very much.

Blessings,
Irma

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The Pico Neighborhood Association
1705 Pico Blvd • Box 125 • Santa Monica • CA 90405-1648

or, e-mail us