It’s a Continuing Saga at Branches: Hours, Staff and Services Cut

“Libraries,” reads the sign posted in the lobby of the E.P. Foster Library “have been and are the information superhighway.”

But another sign posted on its entrance tells a different story. It informs patrons that this branch of the Ventura County Library is closed four days a week.

The irony is not lost on county Library Director Dixie Adeniran. While the demand for more and better information services is on the rise, she said, the revenues needed to pay for costly new books, CDs, videos and computer-access services are quickly diminishing.

During the last two years, Ventura County’s 16 libraries have lost one-third of their funding and two-fifths of their staff. Library hours have been cut in half.

Faced with yet another fiscal crisis this year, the County Board of Supervisors once again came to the rescue, agreeing to hand over $820,000 from the general fund to spare the county library system further cutbacks.

But the bailout is only a temporary reprieve, Adeniran said. The county must come up with new ways to generate revenues, or risk losing its library services altogether.

“We need more money,” Adeniran said. “Continuing along as we currently are is running a library system that is dying a not very slow death.”

Indeed, more than half of the county’s libraries, which serve a population of 419,150 in and around seven of the county’s 10 cities, are open less than 20 hours a week. Patrons must memorize odd schedules to figure out when they can check out a book or browse through periodicals.

“I think it’s awful,” said Maryeanes Garven, 72, a library patron in Ventura. “I mean if people can’t get into libraries, gee whiz. . . .”

Garven was one of about two dozen people on a recent afternoon waiting outside for the Foster library to open. One of the main reasons why people go to the library, she said, is economics.

“You see all these people standing out here waiting to get in,” she said. “Not everyone can afford all the books you should have, like atlases and encyclopedias and things. And if you don’t have them at home, where are you going to get them?”

Garven herself said she visits the library once a week to check out the latest bestsellers, which might otherwise cost her $20 to $25 apiece.

“I get five or six books at a time because I read real fast,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d do without the library.”

Laura Fobes, 67, another longtime patron, said libraries are a low-cost form of recreation for young and old alike.

“Libraries are very important for young people,” she said. “It gives them something else to think about. If libraries were open at night, it would give them a safe place to go and learn something.”

E.P. Foster’s limited hours typify the cutbacks that have taken place at county libraries. Last year, its weekly hours were slashed from 61 to 16. Its staff of 22 full-time employees was reduced to nine, who split their time with the neighboring H.P. Wright Library.

“The public is frustrated and angry” because of the drop in service, said Joel Goldberg, senior librarian at E.P. Foster. “People used to be able to renew books over the phone. But now we can’t even do that because it takes too much time.”

E.P. Foster is important to the county library system because it’s the county’s main reference library, housing the system’s best nonfiction collections. It includes special business books, self-help law books, specialized periodicals and even a genealogy section for tracing family histories.

Also, the library recently became the first in the county system to offer patrons the chance to use the Internet computer network. Among other things, the worldwide computer network allows users to access library catalogues at the University of California, call up sports team schedules or check out National Weather Service forecasts.

“I think this increases the importance of public libraries,” Adeniran said of the new electronic information service, which will soon be expanded to other libraries. “If you don’t have a personal computer at home or at school that will offer you this kind of access, this may be your only on-ramp to the information superhighway.”

But information costs money and the overriding question is how much are residents willing to pay for this public service. Libraries after all, county officials said, do not generate their own revenue. And traditional bake sales or used-book sales are not enough to replace the millions of dollars in public money that has been lost.

Moreover, funding for libraries is expected to become more scarce as government officials devote more money to bolstering law enforcement and public safety. All rely heavily on property tax revenues for their budgets.

“It’s a huge, huge problem,” said county Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, who strongly supported library funding during budget sessions this summer. “It’s just another example of the problem of how we allocate revenues in this state.”

VanderKolk placed much of the blame on Proposition 13, the property tax cutting measure voters approved in 1978, for the increasing financial shortfall facing libraries and other public service agencies.

“It’s created terrible inequities,” she said. “Our tax structure has got to change. I don’t know when, but there will be a day of reckoning.”

For some, that day has already come. Last year, in the largest library closure in California history, the Merced County Board of Supervisors voted to shut down its entire 19-branch library because of a financial crunch.

Gary Strong, the state’s chief librarian, said California ranks 50th in the nation in the number of library hours open to the public.

Those most hurt by such cutbacks, he said, are people on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder who have no other access to books, magazines and computers.

“Libraries are one way to level the playing field,” Strong said. “If you close them down, you’re really breaking the promise of the American Dream for some.”

If information is the great leveler, then it is the less fortunate who have the most to lose from library cutbacks, he said. Knowledge and learning available at public libraries can break the cycle of poverty and crime. Yet librarians note that their public service is often at the losing end of the tug-of-war over tax dollars with law enforcement agencies.

California does not mandate library services for the general public. But the state does require that wards of the California Youth Authority and state prison system have access to library services.

“It just seems tragically ironic,” Adeniran said. “You’re probably going to get better library service as a ward of the California Youth Authority than you are as a student in the public schools or a member of the general public trying to use your local library.”

The county’s library problems began last year, when Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature shifted $2.2 billion of property tax revenue to schools while balancing the state budget.

As a result, the Ventura County Library Services Agency saw its yearly budget slip from $10.1 million to $6.6 million. The number of full-time staffers was reduced from 133 to 77, and the county’s acquisition budget slashed from $762,400 to $400,000.

The acquisition budget is crucial because of the soaring cost of books, videos, audio-tapes, computers and other non-traditional materials, Adeniran said.

“Right now we spend less than $1 per capita for materials,” she said. “If we keep taking money out of our materials budget, then our collections are dead. Who wants to use a library whose collections are dead?”

Popular county library services are also suffering. The system’s summer reading program, for example, saw a significant drop in the number of participants this year because of reduced library hours.

Last summer, about 8,000 children participated in the reading program, designed to encourage recreational reading year-round among elementary school age children, officials said. This year about half that number took part in the program.

Story time, another program aimed at getting preschoolers to read, was also cut back, leaving only one part-time staff member to visit each of the county’s 16 libraries once a month.

Both programs provide vital education services to their individual communities, said Jenny Phelps of the county library’s division of children’s services.

“It’s important to get to our constituency when they are young,” she said. “These are the readers of tomorrow, people who will use libraries as they grow older.”

An audit report released in July suggested that Ventura County libraries could significantly increase library operating hours by reorganizing staff and using more volunteers.

Adeniran agrees that some additional reorganization is needed. But she said that it’s unrealistic to expect operating hours can increase by as much as 45% through such measures, as the audit claimed.

Volunteers already contribute greatly to the county library system, she said. Last year, they logged nearly 35,000 hours of service.

Library administrators are also asked to dedicate time each week at a library branch. Adeniran, for instance, spends two hours every Monday evening working the reference desk at the branch in Simi Valley.

“We’ve been doing this since November,” she said.

Other steps are being taken to make better use of staff time. Automatic checkout machines, purchased with money raised by a community group, were installed last spring at the Simi Valley Library. Similar machines will be put in at the Camarillo Library in the fall.

Cities and various community organizations have also pitched in with additional funding to extend library hours at individual branches in Moorpark, Ojai, Camarillo, Simi Valley and Ventura. The city of Ojai recently contributed $30,000 to keep its branch library open longer hours this year.

Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley said the library is an important educational resource for the city, noting that it is home to four preparatory schools whose students and teachers are regular library patrons.

“We just happen to be in an area where people do use the library a lot,” Shelley said. “I think this is important. Libraries are a basic part of our culture. If we ever give up on libraries, we’re sunk.”

Other communities throughout the county have demonstrated their support for libraries.

Last year, the tiny Avenue Library, situated in one of Ventura’s poorest neighborhoods, was targeted for closure. But residents rallied together in a telethon that raised $52,000. The city pitched in another $15,000.

“There are still a lot of good, caring people out there,” said Councilman Gary Tuttle, who helped lead the televised campaign to save the Avenue Library. “We not only saved the library, but we had money left over to open it a few more hours.”

In Santa Paula, residents last November approved a $25-a-year increase in property taxes in order to expand the operating hours of its Blanchard Community Library. Only two other libraries in the county--the Thousand Oaks Library and the Oxnard Library--are community-funded.

The victory was especially significant because the tax required a two-thirds majority vote for approval. Since 1978, when Proposition 13 was passed, there have been only three Ventura County cities that have met the 66.7% vote requirement to increase local property taxes.

Although he was confident that there was support for the library, Santa Paula’s head Librarian Dan Robles said he was worried about passage of the property tax because of the economic condition of the state and the city.

“Santa Paula is not even in the top five or six richest cities in the county,” Robles said. “But the people came through. They really support and believe in the library.”

In addition to expanding hours at the library, Robles said the new revenues will boost the materials budget for the first time in years, from $8,000 to $30,000.

“We’re going to be able to start catching up on purchasing for the last 17 years,” Robles said. “It’ll be like (buying) Christmas presents.”

Similar property tax measures have been approved in half a dozen California cities.

In Los Angeles County, library officials are taking a different approach and inviting cities to join in a separate community facilities district. This would allow the county to levy a library service charge to homeowners without an election.

But a parcel tax may be the best way to go for Ventura County, said Adeniran, who was pleased with the show of voters’ support in Santa Paula.

“We’re encouraged for ourselves that there could be success with a parcel tax in Ventura County,” she said.

Another potential funding source could come from a proposed bill that would permit local governments to set up special assessment districts for libraries.

If it becomes law, library districts could levy charges on property owners after obtaining permission from a majority of voters. A typical library service charge on a single residence in Ventura County would amount to about $25 a year, officials said.

The proposed state legislation was recently approved by the Assembly. It now goes back to the Senate for final legislative approval before being sent to the governor’s desk.

County taxpayer advocates said they oppose any additional assessments or taxes to pay for library services. They say they believe there is enough money in the county’s general fund to support libraries and other basic community services, such as law enforcement, fire protection and public works.

“Property owners already believe that libraries are a high priority,” said Mike Saliba, executive director of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. “That’s why when they pay their taxes, a portion of that money goes to pay for libraries.”

Saliba also rejected the notion that Proposition 13 was responsible for the decline of library services.

“The problem is not Proposition 13,” Saliba said. “The problem is that since it passed in 1978, the government has gotten involved in supporting programs that have not traditionally been funded and the costs have gotten out of line. We need to get back to funding basic services. It’s all a matter of priorities.”

Meanwhile, the County Board of Supervisors has approved the formation of a nonprofit Ventura County Library Foundation to solicit donations from individuals and corporations.

But with competition already stiff for corporate dollars, Adeniran said she does not anticipate a windfall of contributions. The county, she said, cannot depend solely on private donations to make up the loss of millions of dollars in taxpayer money.

“Those funds can certainly augment the public money that is available,” she said. “But to think that kind of fund-raising on an ongoing basis is going to replace the public money we have lost is a pipe dream.”

Getting What You Pay For

Books on Avg. hours Spending Branches the shelf per week* per capita Ventura County Library 16 733,031 22.2 $15.74 Thousand Oaks Library 2 325,000 48.5 $41.20 Oxnard Library 3 295,739 34.0 $12.86 Santa Paula Library 1 65,000 22.0 $19.17

* Average for all branches

Source: Area libraries

*

County Library Facts

Branches: 16

Full-time employees: 77

Population served: 419,150

Volumes held: 733,031

Annual book circulation: 1.7 million

Annual operating budget: $6.6 million

Total expenditures per capita: $15.74

Relying More on Volunteers

Fiscal Year Total Volunteers Hours of service 1992-93 1,017 34,525 1991-92 875 26,879 1990-91 823 21,670 1989-90 700 12,212 1988-89 575 16,121

Source: Ventura County Library Services Agency

Closing Early

Budget cuts have forced the county library to scale back the hours that its branches are open to the public.

‘92 weekly hours ’94 weekly hours Ojai Library 57 46 Simi Valley Library* 61 43 Camarillo Library* 61 34 Museum of History & Art (Ventura) 31 31 Fillmore Library* 54 20 Moorpark Library* 54 20 Ray D. Prueter (Port Hueneme)* 61 20 Avenue Library (Ventura) 35 19 Meiners Oaks Library 28 19 Oak View Library 35 19 Oak Park Library 29 16 E.P. Foster Library (Ventura)* 61 16 H.P. Wright Library (Ventura) 54 16 Soliz-El Rio Library (Oxnard) 35 16 Saticoy Library ** 12 Piru Library 18 8

* Planning to add four hours a week after Labor Day.

** Branch was temporary closed.