A Conversation with Irvine’s City Librarian

Setting up a new library system is no walk in the park — or browse in the stacks. Just ask Julie Zeoli. As Irvine’s first City Librarian, Zeoli has been charged with managing the changeover of the City’s libraries from County to City control.
 
Zeoli has been doing everything from hiring staff to building a new computer and database system to planning new facilities in North Irvine and the Great Park — not forgetting to order some new books as well.
 
“Pretty much just movin’ and shakin’,” she says. How many librarians use that job description? Currently, she says, the focus is on August 4th. That’s when the Heritage Park and University Park libraries, now closed for renovation, will reopen as City libraries, no longer part of the Orange County Public Library system.
 
“We’re doing an interior refresh of both,” she says. “New furniture, new computers, new carpeting and paint, so there will be a physical transformation of those two buildings.”
 
But that’s just the surface. There’s so much more going on than meets the eye.
 
“We’re getting what’s called the ‘integrated library system’ up and running,” she says. “That’s the large database that has all the books, patron library cards, all that kind of thing. We don’t just take that from the County, we have to develop that from the ground up.”
 
“We’re also working on creating a whole new digital library — digital books and downloadable audio books,” Zeoli said. “So we’ll have a new set of digital content for users once we launch. It’s very exciting.”
 
And, she adds, “We’ll have brand new books when we reopen.” Zeoli said they’re working with book vendors to add 10,000 to 15,000 items to the 167,000 items they’ve gotten from the County.
 
She’s also looking past August 4th, of course. The Katie Wheeler Library in North Irvine will transfer to City control on January 1, 2026, under a three-year lease from the County. “We hope to open that facility in early 2026, as quickly as we’re able to,” Zeoli says.
 
“That building is County-owned and they do want it back,” she noted. “It’s actually part of the Orange County Parks System, and I’m not sure what their plans are, long term. It’s of historical value and I’m sure the County will be taking that into consideration. Our goal will be to find another location to replace that library, in District 1 at the north end of the City, to continue to offer library services to people in that area.”
 
There’s also a library in the Framework Plan for the Great Park, on the north side of the park by the Veterans Memorial Park & Gardens. It is envisioned as a larger facility and could serve as the Main Library for the City, Zeoli said.
 
Zeoli also said the Irvine Public Library will embrace the “library of things” concept that has come out of the sustainability movement of the past decade or so.
 
“Libraries traditionally lend books or periodicals, things like that,” Zeoli explains. “One of the more interesting aspects of contemporary library services is to offer other things beyond the scope of the printed word.  So some libraries lend things like musical instruments, sewing machines, telescopes, things like that are all part of the ‘library of things.’ It’s the idea of being able to share resources and utilize them more fully. It’s something a lot of community members have been asking about and are very excited about.”
 
If you have ideas for the new City library system that you’re excited about, Zeoli would like to see you at one of the community meetings the Library is holding in the coming weeks.
 
“We encourage people to come out, give their feedback and provide perspective on where they’d like to see the Irvine libraries grow in the future. What does the community want to see? Do they want more meeting space? That is something we’ve heard. Or study rooms? Or a theater type of space within a library facility? Space planning is a very important aspect of what we’re looking at for the future growth of the system.”

The City has hosted community meetings at Deerfield Community Center, Las Lomas Community Center, the UCI Research Park, Stonegate Elementary School, Lakeview Senior Center, and Portola Springs Community Center.

The bottom line, says Zeoli, is that “a library is more than just books. A library is a community hub. And the library serves the community in various ways besides lending books. It acts as a community resource in many different ways: study rooms, meeting space, children’s story times, comfortable places for people to come and sit and be in kind of that third space between work or school and home. We want to be that third community space for the residents of Irvine.”
 
For more information on the Irvine Public Library system and the transition to City control, visit irvinepubliclibrary.com.