CAMARILLO : Group Lists Needs for Enlarged Library

About 25 people have composed a wish list for an expanded Camarillo Library, including a videotape collection, a place for quiet study, a bigger community room and more sophisticated research materials.

And don’t forget the ambience, they said.

The list was drawn up at a library meeting held Tuesday so that two library consultants could gather community feedback for a 200-page report that they are drafting. The report will help architects design a building with community needs in mind and will be part of an application for state building funds.

Consultants Ray and Sarah Holt, who were contracted by the county, exchanged information with the group, which was composed primarily of Friends of the Library members.

Councilman Michael Morgan argued for acquiring more sophisticated computer equipment and software.

“Things have changed,” Morgan said. “We have to change.”

PTA President Martha Goodsell likened the library’s space problems to the overcrowding in the Pleasant Valley School District’s 13 schools. “You’re feeling the same thing we are,” Goodsell said.

Ray Holt suggested that the library should be expanded with faculty, staff and students of the planned Cal State University in mind. He said they probably will use the Camarillo Library until the university’s library is up and running, which may take years. The new university will be built in Camarillo.

A 1989 study by the Holts found that the Camarillo Library, built in 1974, is one-third the size that it should be to accommodate its book collection and the city’s growing population. It was ranked among the top three Ventura County libraries with the greatest need for expansion.

The study recommended an $8-million expansion for the 16,500-square-foot library, which residents and librarians say is too crowded.