Angry Residents Protest Closing of 3 Branch Libraries : Cuts: Officials say it is too late to prevent Carson and Manhattan Beach sites from shutting down because of shrinking county revenues.

Angry and often tearful library patrons in Carson and Manhattan Beach are circulating petitions, contacting city leaders and even staging a mock wake to protest the closure of three county libraries in their communities.

The demonstrations began almost immediately after Los Angeles County officials last week announced that Villa Carson and Dominguez libraries in Carson and Manhattan Heights Library in Manhattan Beach will be closed. In all, 10 libraries will be shut by this weekend to help offset a $10.2-million shortfall in the county budget.

“It reminds you of a ‘60s grass-roots meeting,” Manhattan Heights Librarian Lynn Mohr said of the protests. “People are very upset. There’s been a lot of calling to City Hall, calling the mayor, the city manager. Everyone is saying, ‘Let’s go out and do something to save the library!’ ”

County officials, however, say it is probably too late.

In an effort to avoid closures earlier this year, library officials substantially reduced hours and pared book acquisition budgets. But when state lawmakers this year shifted money from county libraries to public schools to help resolve the state budget crisis, the county library system was left with few alternatives, officials said.

In deciding which of the county’s 92 libraries to close, library officials considered everything from circulation statistics to a community’s proximity to other libraries.

“The cost-effectiveness of the library was a big criteria,” said Sue Cowen, spokeswoman for the County of Los Angeles Public Library. “Our whole reason for closing libraries was to make some money available to us because we have under $3 million available to buy books with for the rest of the fiscal year.”

Such reasoning did little to soothe tempers in communities scheduled to lose a library.

Residents who live close to the Manhattan Heights branch complain that they will now have to travel more than two miles away to visit the nearest library. They say the closure of Manhattan Heights will increase traffic, cause parking shortages and crowd the Manhattan Beach Library downtown.

“You just don’t realize what a cross-section of people the Manhattan Heights facility services,” said attorney Bill Beverly of Manhattan Heights. “I use Torrance Library a lot, but it’s not the same as having a neighborhood library where you can walk over with your kids.

“If you have all the Manhattan Heights people go down to the (Manhattan Beach) branch, I think it will cause a tremendous amount of commotion,” he added. “Parents are going to have to be driving their children across town, there will be more parking, more congestion, and probably a 50% increase in demand on the same materials and resources.”

In Carson, library patrons worry that they will be more than inconvenienced if Villa Carson and Dominguez libraries are closed. Although there are two other county libraries in the city, residents say the Villa Carson and Dominguez branches are extremely important to the city’s immigrant community and among only a few safe places remaining for young people.

“It’s not fair to close two of our libraries,” said Carlene Kuehne, a day-care provider who visits the library three times a week. “No other city is getting this kind of treatment.”

The loss of 26-year-old Villa Carson, a small branch library in the middle of a run-down shopping center in the center of town, is particularly worrisome to Carson residents. The cheerful, bright-tiled library shines among the boarded up storefronts on both sides.

Lam Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant who lives within walking distance of the library, said he and his family spend several hours at Villa Carson every week brushing up on their English.

“It is not right to close a library in an area where they need it most,” said Nguyen, an electrician. “The majority of the people in this community are minority. They don’t have money to buy books. The best way to improve their language skills is to come here and read books.”

He is one among dozens of activists in Carson and Manhattan Beach who are organizing campaigns aimed at getting the county to rescind its decision or to find another way to fund their libraries.

Nguyen and several other library patrons spent hours this week collecting signatures on a letter that pleads with library officials to reconsider their decision.

The library “keeps our kids out of dangerous streets and getting themselves into troubles. It also educates, brings hope to this community, which the majority are minority and speak English as a second language and are trying hard through the library to improve their English,” the letter says.

“To close the library at this time means to close all hopes and doors to the future of our kids and our efforts to build a better community, a better nation.”

Children enrolled at nearby Catskill Avenue School have also entered the fray, writing letters to county officials in an attempt to save Villa Carson.

“This is home away from home for a lot of kids,” Catskill Avenue PTA President Dollie Haro said. “It’s within walking distance of the school. And this is one of the few field trips that haven’t been cut because of the budget situation.”

In Manhattan Beach, residents are also writing letters and circulating petitions. Library staffers have asked patrons to come to the library dressed in black today from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., as part of a “wake” to mark the 28-year-old facility’s demise.

The Manhattan Beach City Council is scheduled to discuss the library closure at a meeting Tuesday to determine what, if anything, the city can do to keep the library open.

Dozens of residents are expected to attend the meeting to argue that the city should subsidize the branch’s operating costs through July. The residents have signed petitions endorsing the formation of a citizens committee to explore the feasibility of acquiring the library site and permanently funding its operation.

Manhattan Beach City Council members say the city may not be able to afford a library bailout. The county pays about $347,000 annually to run the Manhattan Heights library, about $450,000 annually to operate Villa Carson and about $284,000 a year for Dominguez Library.

But even if Manhattan Beach were able to subsidize the Manhattan Heights branch, library officials say this would send the wrong message to poorer communities that also are upset about losing libraries.

“It could backfire,” Cowen said. “We don’t want any community to feel like they lost out. Besides, I know these promises are heartfelt, but when (city officials) sit down and calculate the cost of running a library, they’ll be shocked. I just cannot believe that any of the cities, regardless of how heartfelt they are about wanting to save their libraries, will be able to do it.”

Alternative Libraries Here are the closest libraries for residents who used the Villa Carson and Dominguez libraries in Carson and the Manhattan Heights Library in Manhattan Beach.

MANHATTAN BEACH Manhattan Beach Library

1320 Highland Ave.

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sunday.

Hermosa Beach Public Library

550 Pier Ave.

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday 12-6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Lawndale Public Library

14615 Burin Ave.

Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 1-8 p.m., Thursday and Friday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

CARSON Lomita Public Library

24200 Narbonne Ave.

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday 12-6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Carson Public Library

151 E. Carson St.

Hours: Monday-Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 1-5 p.m.