The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a lease agreement with the city of Irvine for the use of the Katie Wheeler Library during their meeting on Feb. 25. With the agreement, the historic library will no longer cease operations as originally planned for summer 2025.
The Katie Wheeler Library was named after Katie Irvine Wheeler, a philanthropist and great-granddaughter of James Irvine I, the founder of the city of Irvine. The library is built inside the Irvine Ranch Historic Park, the county park where the Irvine Ranch once stood. Approximately 40 years after the ranch was demolished, the library opened in 2008 in the former home of Wheeler.
The library offers a multitude of activities and events such as book groups, storytime readings, play sessions for children and English language learning groups. A used bookstore is located at the basement level of the building and is operated by the Friends of the Katie Wheeler Library. In the past, the business has raised money to help fund programs and purchase new materials for the library.
On July 23, 2024, the Irvine City Council originally approved the motion of leaving the Orange County Public Library (OCPL) system and allowing the city to create its own library system by the middle of summer 2025. According to the timeline of the motion, libraries of the OCPL system, including the Katie Wheeler Library, were to continue operations under regular hours through March 31, 2025.
After that date, the Katie Wheeler Library was set to close permanently while Heritage Park and University Park Libraries would have transitioned to the Irvine Public Library System on July 1, 2025.
After the passing of the motion, many Irvine residents expressed their disappointment and anger over the library’s closure. In September 2024, residents posted a petition on change.org to save the Katie Wheeler Library from closing. As of February 2025, the petition has over 5,000 signatures.
“This library has helped me through countless hours of studying and deadlines while also [being] a great place for me to quietly hangout with my close friends, reading together and bonding,” one Irvine resident, Shannon, commented on the petition site. “I’ve also been going to this library [ever] since I was a kindergartener and it holds so many memories for me.”
On Jan. 14, the Irvine City Council approved a move to lease the Katie Wheeler Library from the county from Jan. 1, 2026 to Dec. 31, 2029, allowing the facility to be a part of the new Irvine Public Library system.
In a document released by the Irvine City Council, the agreement stated the city will pay the county over $30,000 each month for the building, with a 2% annual increase in these payments. While this lease is only temporary, it is up for renewal after it expires, with the County of Orange “to retain rights and interests to the Katie Wheeler complex in the long term.”
“This lease provides the City time to continue maturing its city-wide library system and develop plans for appropriate branch facilities that are owned and operated by the City,” the council wrote.
The incorporation of the Katie Wheeler Library is a part of Irvine’s goal of creating a “personalized, local approach to library services.” The city of Irvine appointed Julie Zeoli — previously the city of Yorba Linda’s assistant library director — as Irvine’s first librarian to lead the transition and implementation of Irvine’s own library system. The city is further creating plans to add additional libraries and improve existing library facilities throughout Irvine.
On Jan. 30, the city held an Irvine Public Library Informational Meeting in hopes of engaging with community members to ensure plans for the new library system will meet their needs. In the upcoming months, more informational meetings will be held for community members to voice their concerns and opinions about the city’s library system. For more information, visit the city’s council meeting schedule.
Grace Hefner is a News Staff Writer. She can be reached at ghefner@uci.edu.
