Sunnyvale's First Branch Library Opens on Halloween, Beside a Park Still Under Construction

On Saturday, Oct. 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Lakewood Branch Library and Learning Center at 760 Lakechime Drive opens with live music, a Maker Lab showcase, crafts and giveaways. Families are encouraged to come in Halloween costumes. It's free, open to all ages, and needs no registration. It is also the first time Sunnyvale has run a library anywhere other than its main branch.

The Lakewood site is opening in stages, and Halloween comes about halfway through. The playground opened in July. The library opens this month. The rest of Lakewood Park stays closed until about mid-2027. The building took 14 years because three public agencies had to agree to share it, and that sharing will shape how the place works long after the costumes go home.

Fourteen Years, Three Agencies, One Lot

The library didn't start as a library project. It started as a question about distance. In July 2012, the City Council and the Board of Library Trustees held a joint session. Council directed staff to look at building Sunnyvale's first branch on the Lakewood school and park site. The city's reasoning was that many north Sunnyvale residents live two to four miles from any library.

The land belongs to the Sunnyvale School District, part of the Lakewood Elementary School property. Building on district land meant the city needed agreements with two school districts before design could begin, and the timeline reflects that:

1. July 2012. Council asks staff to study a branch at Lakewood.
2. Early 2017. Council authorizes a partnership with the Sunnyvale School District, including a feasibility study the city and district pay for jointly.
3. January 2020. Council approves a memorandum of understanding with the Sunnyvale School District and the Fremont Union High School District to build and run a joint-use library on the district's land.
4. April 2020. The city hires Anderson Brulé Architects for design and construction support.
5. May 2024. Council awards a $23,178,824.25 construction contract to Bobo Construction and adds a 10% contingency of $2,317,882.
6. Spring 2026. The school district's construction page had expected an April 2026 opening.
7. Aug. 13, 2026. The city postpones an Aug. 29 grand opening because the final stages of construction are running long.
8. Oct. 31, 2026. Opening day, confirmed in the city's Oct. 2 update and on the city calendar.

The money came from more than one place too. The 2024 council report lists contributions from Friends of the Sunnyvale Library and from both school districts, along with additional city funds. Silicon Valley Clean Energy committed a $481,000 decarbonization grant toward making the building all-electric.

A Floor Plan Built for Sharing

Because three agencies share the building, its layout looks different from the main library on Olive Avenue. The 2024 construction report describes a single-story building of 22,771 square feet. It holds a library program room, a community room, a separate program room for each school district partner, a makerspace, a small kitchen and storage. The city's event listing and the Mercury News round it down to "20,000-plus." Both describe study rooms and dedicated spaces for children and teens.

The building grew during design. The 2020 memorandum described about 20,068 square feet, with shared areas expected to serve roughly 500 to 700 people a day. By the time it went to bid in 2024, it had added about 2,700 square feet.

The design brief came from public meetings. In 2020 the community asked for group study space, connections between indoors and outdoors, flexible program rooms and separate quiet and active zones. Anderson Brulé's concept leaned toward glass, plaster and wood. The city noted at the time that final materials could change, so the Halloween visit will show which of those choices made it into the finished building.

The art was chosen in 2024. As the Silicon Valley Voice reported, Rough Edge Collective was selected for interior artwork and Ride Art Studio for a piece in the exterior forecourt.

The Maker Lab Is the Room to Find First

The opening-day program centers on the Maker Lab showcase, and the equipment list explains why. According to the city, the lab offers:

• A 3D printer
• A laser cutter
• Sewing machines
• A large-format printer
• Vinyl cutters
• Jewelry-making supplies and arts-and-crafts materials

The main library already runs sewing and yarn labs. This month's city calendar lists a Sewing Lab and a Yarn Lab at the main branch. A laser cutter and vinyl cutters in north Sunnyvale add a different kind of tool. They suit signage, stickers, small fabrication and school projects, and until now they weren't available that close to Lakewood.

There's one practical gap. As of this writing, the library's locations page still lists Lakewood as a "Future" branch and posts regular hours only for the main library. Daily hours and Maker Lab sign-up rules hadn't been published yet, so check that page before planning a weekday visit.

Next Door, the Park Is Only Partly Open

Lakewood Park is the outer-space-themed park that has sat beside the school for nearly 60 years. It's partway through its own renovation, and that renovation runs about a year behind the library. Here's how the site stands this fall, based on the city's project page:

The playground was paid for in part by a grant from the County of Santa Clara's All-Inclusive Playground Grant Program. Since it opened three months before the library, families heading to the Halloween opening already have a finished playground next door. The dog parks, water play area and skate park are still to come, with the city estimating overall completion in mid-2027.

Parking is still an open question. The 2020 concept planned about 100 spaces, made possible by removing the site's former swimming pool to expand the surface lot. That was a planning estimate, and the city hasn't published a final count. The 2024 contract did include conduit and infrastructure for adding EV chargers later.

Getting There on Opening Day

A free, all-day event on a partly closed site is a good day to leave the car at home. Lakechime Drive is in the middle of the Lakewood neighborhood, so walking or biking along the John W. Christian Greenbelt is the most direct route for nearby residents.

For everyone else, the city's new BEAM on-demand shuttle started running Aug. 18. As of the Silicon Valley Voice's Oct. 4 report, trips cost $3.50 and go to locations across Sunnyvale. The fleet has nine shuttles, three of them wheelchair accessible and six with bike storage. BEAM and the Lakewood branch are both newcomers this fall, and both serve the same purpose of shortening trips that used to require a car.

The Mercury News also pointed out a callback for longtime residents. Mayor Larry Klein dressed as Willy Wonka at an October 2024 city event, and there's no word yet on whether he'll repeat the costume on Halloween. Either way, the building will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 31.

From a design perspective, few buildings in north Sunnyvale will be watched more closely over the next year. It's a 22,771-square-foot, all-electric civic space shared by three agencies, with a park finishing around it through mid-2027. At Fani Realty, we pay attention to how projects like Lakewood change daily life on the blocks around them. If you're weighing a renovation or sale in north Sunnyvale and want to know how the finished Lakewood site could fit into that plan, request a personalized consultation and market valuation.