SAN FERNANDO : Judges Make Donations to Needy Library

When San Fernando Superior Court Judge John Farrell was growing up, he spent countless hours in public libraries. So when he and fellow jurists were chatting about Christmas charity, it didn’t take long to find a suitable prospect.

Farrell and nine other judges quickly pooled about $500, a handful of books, classical and jazz compact discs and assorted videotapes and donated them to the San Fernando Library. On Thursday afternoon, they handed over the gifts to branch manager Judith Babka.

“We got together in a judges’ meeting and we thought we should do something nice for the holiday season for the community,” said Farrell. “All of us grew up going to libraries, and it’s a shame the library here is open only three times a week. It’s something we could empathize with.”

The beleaguered county library branch, whose budget for materials and acquisitions was cut from $48,500 two years ago to $500 this year, can afford subscriptions for just nine magazines and one newspaper this year, said Babka. It is open three days a week, down from six days two years ago.

“That is no service to the community, where kids have to find a quiet place to do work after school,” said Babka. “It’s getting pretty hard to operate. We don’t have the staff, we don’t have the hours, we don’t have the books.”