Solana Beach, CA.. -



Solana Beach, California, is a great little town. It has a long, sandy beach with awesome surf. It has lovely homes, a terrific shopping district, wonderful restaurants, a legendary music venue, good schools and as of this summer, a beautifully landscaped new library.

The new Solana Beach library is far more than your standard, ho-hum library. It occupies a 10,700 square foot building with angular glass walls capped in a pair of wing-shaped metal roofs. It shares a site with a large middle school. Step inside, and you will find the library filled with teenagers studying next to senior citizens.

What makes this library even more unusual is its genesis. Solana Beach’s new library was built, furnished, stocked and maintained through a collaboration between the city, the San Diego County Library system, the San Dieguito Union High School District and a local organization called the Friends of the Library.

The Solana Beach library, whose proper name is the San Diego County Library, Solana Beach Branch, is what is called a “joint use facility” meaning that it serves several audiences equally. In this case, the library serves as a school library for Earl Warren Middle School as well as a public library for residents of Solana Beach and neighboring communities. According to Steve Maugh, Director of Facilities Planning for the school district, such a joint-use project is a unique marriage of public agencies that is seldom seen in other states. In fact, this library is one of the few joint-use facilities in the country.

While it took several years for the organizations to come to agreement and raise funds for the project, once groundbreaking happened the building opened within a year. Still, for the first six months, the library stood amidst bare slopes and planting beds. While there had been enough money for construction, books and furnishings, there was not enough for landscaping.

As before, the solution lay in collaboration. Friends of the Library went into fundraising mode, while the San Dieguito Union High School District did some problem solving. Their solution came in the form of Doug Johnsen, the school district’s operations supervisor, and his lead groundsworker, DJ Webber. Their crews care for 200 acres of grounds spread over the eight schools.

“I have 20 people working for me,” Johnsen said, “irrigation specialists, equipment operators and groundsmen. Our job is to care for hardscape, irrigation, tennis courts, football stadiums, do the gardening, fencing…anything outside buildings.” Rather than hire an outside contractor, the men assembled a crew to install the library’s landscaping themselves.

There was an existing landscape plan but the plant pallet needed updating. Johnsen took the lead, and with assistance from Karen Hill from Miramar Wholesale Nurseries in San Diego, the two revised the layout.

“Karen and I decided what would work in the different areas,” Johnsen said. “There was a knoll, for example, and an island originally planned to be shrubs. We changed that to grass based on what would work with middle school students, plant availability, and what would look nice.” They also chose plants for ease of maintenance, ability to adapt to the soil, and low water requirements.

Other changes were made as well. For example, oak trees specified for the parking lots were swapped out for palm trees in order to match the landscaping of nearby city buildings. An area near the bus stop was planted in turf rather than shrubs so students have a comfortable place to sit as they wait for a ride home.

The installation was done on Saturdays with nine or ten people showing up each week to help. Webber oversaw the crews and coordination. Hill showed up bright and early on those mornings as well, “I was involved in every part of it.” she said, excited at the chance to participate in the installation process. “I was there… meeting the trucks in the morning. I worked with the crew setting out the plants. They were the greatest people, absolute sweethearts. If getting up early to meet a truck on a Saturday can be fun, it was fun!”

Despite the fact that the school district crews were paid overtime, they still accomplished the job for less than half the price of the lowest bid that came in from the landscape contractors. Not that the work was easy. It was an education for the team, who usually inherit projects after installation.

“It was a lot of hard work,” said Johnsen. “Usually we wonder why something was planted the way it was or why plants were spaced that way or why they put in particular irrigation heads.” He now has greater appreciation for the effort. “We didn’t realize how much was involved at first… But we tackled it without a problem.”

According to Johnsen and Webber, the crew takes tremendous pride in the work they did. “You are only as good as your crew,” said Webber. “The crew really put out, week in and week out – above and beyond.” The result is a handsome landscape that reflects the efforts of everyone involved.

“It was fun to help in the design and to work with Miramar Wholesale Nurseries to choose plants,” said Johnsen. “I would do it again – no hesitation.”

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Nan Sterman is a freelance garden writer and owner of Plant Soup Productions in San Diego County, CA.