VanderKolk Gives Backing to Plan for Oak Park Library : Development: Supervisor abandons an unpopular proposal to build a regional facility in Agoura Hills.

Ventura County Supervisor Maria E. VanderKolk on Friday embraced a plan for a new public library in Oak Park, abandoning an unpopular proposal to build a regional facility in the neighboring Los Angeles County city of Agoura Hills.

The supervisor upset many of the 13,100 residents in Oak Park two months ago after she suggested that revenues from the two communities be pooled to construct a library in Agoura Hills.

VanderKolk said she ditched that proposal after reviewing a new study that shows there is a sufficient amount of developers’ fees available to build the library in Oak Park.

“When the report came back and said we could build somewhere close to a 10,000-square-foot facility, that made me confident we could go ahead with this plan,” she said.

Oak Park residents became vocal last year when neighboring Thousand Oaks began charging a $55 annual fee to non-residents to use its two city-owned libraries. Shut out of Thousand Oaks, they clamored for a library they could use for free.

Community leaders said they were pleased to hear of VanderKolk’s change of heart, considering the mounting opposition to her plan.

“Oak Park is kind of a proud little community,” said Lindy Heidt, a spokesman for the Friends of the Oak Park Library. “We did not think it was right that the funds we have for development be siphoned off by another county.”

VanderKolk said she plans to meet with school and community representatives within two weeks to begin drawing up plans for the new library.

The community’s only existing public library is housed at the local high school under an agreement between the county and the Oak Park Unified School District. It holds only 15,000 volumes and is open only four days a week for 29 hours.

The study, released by library services Manager Dixie Adeniran, indicated that the county could build a 9,500-square-foot facility at a cost of about $1.42 million.

The new library could be built within three years, VanderKolk said. When completed, it would house up to 50,000 volumes and be open 51 hours a week. The cost of staffing the library would range from $118,000 to $218,000 with operating costs of about $48,000 a year.

VanderKolk said the county’s current financial crisis would probably not affect plans for Oak Park’s library.

Construction costs would be paid from developers’ fees, and property tax revenues would be used to operate and staff the building.

There is wide community support for a larger library in Oak Park. Last month, both the school board and the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council voted unanimously to support a new library in Oak Park.

School board President Pat Kavulic said VanderKolk’s support for a regional library in Agoura Hills stirred a hornet’s nest of resentment among Oak Park residents.

“We felt like something was being taken away from us. We didn’t feel like we were getting anything,” Kavulic said.

Kavulic said the school board would probably support leasing a site and possibly raising money to operate the new library.

Ron Stark, a member of the advisory council, accused VanderKolk of making a unilateral decision to support a regional library without consulting her constituents.

Now, Stark said, he looks forward to planning the new library.

“I’m glad to hear Maria has changed her mind and is going to follow the wishes of the majority of people of Oak Park,” he said.