THOUSAND OAKS : Library Fee Stuns Moorpark Officials

To the surprise of Moorpark city officials, people who live outside Thousand Oaks must pay a new $55 fee to use some library reference materials, as well as to check out books.

Moorpark officials said they left a recent meeting with Thousand Oaks officials believing that people living outside Thousand Oaks would be able to use any materials in the library without paying the fee.

But Moorpark High School students recently told teacher Guy Aronoff that they must have a library card to use microfiche and any materials kept behind the library’s reference desk, Aronoff said.

Before the institution of the fee Oct. 1, the library allowed people to use locked-up reference materials by leaving a driver’s license or other identification card at the desk, library officials said.

The new policy on these items “definitely appears to conflict with what we were told in the meeting,” Moorpark City Councilman Scott Montgomery said.

“One of the concerns of (the City) Council was the ability of students to use the library,” said Mary Lindley, assistant to the city manager. “I felt at that meeting our concerns were laid to rest. Nothing was ever pointed out to us besides books” requiring a card to be checked out, she said.

“There’s a reason why this material was locked up,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Frank Schillo said. “It’s only appropriate that they be reserved for members of the community.”

Items kept behind the reference desk include Consumers’ Report buying guides and other books that are commonly damaged or stolen.

About 7,600 Moorpark residents held Thousand Oaks library cards before the fee was instituted. Figures are not yet available on how many have paid to continue using the library.

Montgomery said he would oppose having the city subsidize the fee for Moorpark residents as Westlake Village recently decided to do.

Until Moorpark gets a larger library of its own, residents can order materials not kept at the Moorpark Library through the Ventura County Library Services Agency, Montgomery said.

The Moorpark Library has been signing up 15 to 20 new cardholders a day since the Thousand Oaks fee was instituted, librarian Michelle Weise said.