City Council OKs $4.29M Library Property Purchase In Laguna Beach

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Laguna Beach residents can continue to enjoy public library services after the city council approved the purchase of the Laguna Beach Orange County Public Library building property for $4.29 million during Tuesday's council meeting.

The purchase comes as a part of the original agreement with the County of Orange to build the Laguna Beach Public Library, dated 1970. In the agreement, the city was given the option to purchase the property from the county after 50 years.

Library services will continue as scheduled, a spokesperson for the city said. Now, the city will enter a lease agreement with the County of Orange for the library property for a 25-year term, rent-free, in exchange for continued library services.

There is also a stipulation in the lease agreement that said up to $4.2 million paid to the County of Orange by Laguna Beach, along with any funding Orange County collects from property tax revenues not used for library operations, go toward refurbishments of the library building and expanded services.