GARDEN GROVE Main Library is closed for renovations, but is still useful as a quite place to check your phone messages (Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune

“Born” in 1969, the Garden Grove Main (originally “Regional”) Library is now well into middle age, and – frankly – it could use a face-lift.

The two-story facility located in the Civic Center at 11200 Stanford Ave. (east of Euclid Street) has been closed since May 11, 2025 and construction is estimated to take a total of 18 to 24 months, according to Dan Serranilla, marketing and communications manager for the Orange County Public Libraries.

When the renovation is completed it will be a “more inclusive, eco-friendly and community-driven space,”said Serranilla, with a better layout, upgraded lighting, modern furnishings, fresh paint and other improvements.

“The goal is to create a welcoming, safe environment that meets the community’s needs,” he said.
All that modernization is expected to cost $7.1 million, with funding partially from the California State Library’s Building Forward Library Facilities Improvement Program.

The transformation, however, will not include a face-lift for the now-defunct fountain in front of the library. According to Serranilla, that’s owned by the City of Garden Grove and “any decisions regarding its repair or replacement would fall under the city’s purview.”