VENTURA : Fund Raising Slated for Libraries Today

Supporters of the Ventura libraries will conduct a survey and a fund-raising campaign to “make a difference” for the city’s troubled libraries today, national Make a Difference Day.

Girl Scouts and library volunteers hope to distribute about 10,000 of the single-page questionnaires at seven stores and shopping centers, said Trish Cavanaugh, community relations manager for the County Library Services Agency.

Cavanaugh said donations received at the canvassing sites will go directly toward expanding library hours at one of the city’s four branches. She said answers to the surveys will be compiled and used to influence decisions about library hours and locations.

“I think it will make a difference in terms of the library services they eventually receive,” Cavanaugh said.

The system has lost 45% of its funding in the past two years, and hours in Ventura have dropped from 158 per week in 1992 to 67 in 1994, spread among the four sites, officials said.

The survey asks residents if they support: consolidating the Foster and Wright libraries; seeking additional city, county, or state funding, and building a replacement for the Foster library, which the survey describes as “outdated, small and crowded.”

Make a Difference Day, chaired by actor Paul Newman, is a national community service effort.