This afternoon, Thursday, January 8, 2004, Councilwoman Sharon Copeland, District 6, spoke at a special ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the new South Mandarin Branch Library. As part of the celebration, a ceremonial key was presented to students from Loretto Elementary School, where Councilwoman Copeland attended grammar school. Copeland remarked, "With our ever growing city, the City Council have been working hard with the City's administration to have more people utilize our public libraries by building new libraries and expanding the operating hours, space and technology of our existing community libraries." She added, "We are also looking forward to the completion of our magnificent downtown library. The South Mandarin Branch Library will be a key ingredient in the enriching our community through the sharing of ideas, knowledge and research."

The event was held at 2:00 p.m. at 12125 San Jose Boulevard (north of the intersection of San Jose and Marbon Road).