ORANGE : Limited Hours for Library Branch

The Friendly Stop, a library branch established in the city’s Cypress barrio to reach out to the area’s Latino teen-agers, will be open under limited hours for the remainder of the summer.

The library, at 615-A N. Lemon St., will be open Monday through Thursday from 2 to 5:30 p.m. It will no longer be open to the public Saturday.

The cutback is the result of a temporary funding shortage. Library officials will receive a $34,000 Community Development Block Grant from the federal government to operate the branch for fiscal 1993-94, but the money is not expected to be in hand until late August.

The City Council said this week that the library could use $1,400 in community donations to pay the salary of the branch supervisor, Anthony Garcia, until it receives the federal funds.

Also this week, the County Board of Supervisors approved a $1,500 emergency grant to help keep the Friendly Stop open.

“I was glad to provide the assistance,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said. “The monies are well spent and are preventive in nature since they direct youngsters to constructive activities.”

Garcia has been on unpaid leave since July 1, when funds for the bilingual library ran out.

“I feel good that it’s open and the kids see someone they recognize here,” Garcia said after returning to his office Thursday. “This is a gang-free, drug-free, safe environment to help kids stay out of trouble.”

The Friendly Stop offers books in both English and Spanish, homework assistance and advice about sex, drugs, jobs, gangs and health to its mostly teen-age patrons.

The City Council also ordered city staff to prepare a report on the Friendly Stop’s operations and mission since its opening in 1990.

“This was supposed to be a temporary facility to interest people in the Cypress Street neighborhood into going to the main library,” Councilwoman Joanne Coontz said. “It was not meant to be something permanent or extensive. But it has evolved over a period of time into something different.”

Coontz attributed the Friendly Stop’s growth to the availability of different grants. For example, the branch began offering to homework assistance to students after receiving a grant that could only be used for that purpose, she said.