Quake-Damaged Simi Library to Reopen

After several delays, county officials said Thursday that the earthquake-damaged Simi Valley Library will reopen March 21.

And as an unscheduled bonus for patient patrons, the library will simultaneously become the only such facility in the county to offer fully automated checkout.

Alan Langville, a manager with the Ventura County Library Services Agency, said damage to the large, concrete columns leading to the Tapo Canyon Road library caused the extended delays.

“What they’re doing right now is strengthening the columns,” he said. “They were either damaged or weakened during the earthquake.”

Once the facility reopens, Langville said, the new self checkout computers will trim lines at the counter and allow the library to spread its staff thinner and stay open longer.

“What we intend to do is stretch the staffing out over a longer period of time so we can keep the library open more hours,” he said.

New hours, scheduled to go into effect April 4, will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Library hours between March 21 and April 4 will be noon to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Using the new system, residents will be able to check their books out electronically and leave with a receipt telling them when the items are due.

“This is a system that has been going into libraries gradually around the country,” Langville said. “The working models have actually only been in library buildings for less than a year.”

Librarians will still be on duty, though, to aid in registration, paying fines or even checking out books the old-fashioned way.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said the city agreed to install the devices at a cost of about $75,000 to ensure longer library hours.

Stratton also applauded the scheduled reopening.

“We’re very pleased that it’s finally going to open,” he said. “Obviously, it is something that the community wants and needs and has really missed.”

One casualty of the reopening will be the bus-like bookmobile parked outside the library since the Jan. 17 quake. Although popular with residents as a temporary way to get access to books, Langville said the vehicle will be moved when the real doors reopen.

“We’re delighted with how people have received the bookmobile,” he said. “It’s been a very popular thing out there, and the people have really been fascinated by the bookmobile and taken with it.”