OJAI : Group Gives $4,200 to Reopen 2 Libraries

The Ojai Valley Friends of the Library has donated $4,200 to the county Library Services Agency to reopen two small branches one morning a week in addition to their usual afternoon schedule.

The Meiners Oaks and Oak View branch libraries, which were open just 16 hours a week each, have added three hours a week because of the donations.

“With the budget cutbacks, the libraries were becoming inaccessible because the hours were erratic,” said Lisa Meeker, president of the 300-member Ojai Valley Friends of the Library.

“A lot of the people with children and the older people wanted to go to the libraries in the morning, but couldn’t because there wasn’t enough money to keep them open,” Meeker said.

Under terms of the donation, the Meiners Oaks branch will open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, in addition to the 2 to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday schedule.

The Oak View branch, which has the same afternoon schedule as the Meiners Oaks Library, will now also be open between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Meeker said the group targeted the two outlying library branches because the city of Ojai earlier this year donated $30,000 to increase the Ojai Library’s hours from 20 a week to 46 hours per week.

“We are open more hours than any library in the county because of the city,” said Ojai librarian Robert Barnes.

The $4,200 donation is only enough, however, to fund the new hours through June, Meeker said. She urged all library visitors to make contributions if they can.