WESTLAKE VILLAGE : City Donates $1,000 to Help Area Library

The Westlake Village City Council has donated $1,000 to help restore Thousand Oaks’ main library, which has been closed since January’s earthquake ripped steel plates from the ceiling and ruptured a water pipe.

Acting “in the spirit of neighborliness,” Westlake Village Mayor Doug Yarrow presented a check to his Thousand Oaks counterpart at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

“I can only touch that check for a minute, because I know our city finance director will be over here immediately,” Mayor Elois Zeanah said, beaming as she accepted the gift.

Since the Jan. 17 quake, dozens of Thousand Oaks residents have applied for library cards in Westlake Village, which are good at that city’s year-old library plus 86 other branches in Los Angeles County.

While Thousand Oaks charges non-residents a $55 fee for library cards, the Los Angeles County system offers free cards to everyone, even citizens of Ventura County.

The Westlake Village library, located at 4371 Park Terrace, contains 27,000 volumes.

It is open from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. The Thousand Oaks library is scheduled to open in mid-April.