ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : To Raise Cash, County May Try to Sell Libraries to Cities : Services: Under plan, county would continue to run facilities on a lease-back arrangement. Some say they would consider idea, others find it laughable.

As part of the effort to dig itself out of financial crisis, the county is considering a plan to sell nine public libraries to the communities where the branches are located, or to private-sector buyers.

Some cities have expressed interest in the idea, but others consider it laughable: Precisely because they have lost so much money invested in the collapsed county pool, they can’t begin to think about purchasing a library at this time.

“I wouldn’t consider any expenditures at this point, especially to the entity that has our money,” said Irvine City Councilwoman Christina L. Shea.

No branches are currently up for sale, but County Librarian John Adams said Thursday that the idea has been discussed by county real estate officials. Adams said he did not know the exact value of the nine branches.

Under the plan, the branches would be sold to buyers willing to lease the property back to the county so the libraries could remain open and under county control.

The plan “would allow the county to get a quick infusion of cash,” Adams said “This is one of the things we are exploring. . . . It’s being researched at this point.”

The nine libraries under consideration are the University Park branch in Irvine; the Crown Valley branch in Laguna Niguel; the Dana Niguel branch in Dana Point; the El Toro branch in Lake Forest; the Laguna Beach branch; the Mission Viejo branch; the Los Alamitos-Rossmoor branch in Seal Beach; the Leisure World branch in Seal Beach and the Rancho Santa Margarita branch.

The properties are the only libraries in the 28-branch system that are owned by the county. Most of the others are owned by the cities where they are located, but operated by the county.

Adams stressed that the branches are not being considered for closure.

Laguna Niguel City Manager Tim Casey questioned what advantage his city would gain from buying a library.

*

“If in some way it helped us and helped them, we’d certainly be willing to come to the table and talk,” Casey said. “Arguably there would be lease income. Perhaps there might be something economically persuasive about that. But at first blush, I don’t see the benefits on both sides.”

Casey said the city has been interested in joining with the county to restore operating hours to the library that were cut two years ago. “If (the county proposal) is a vehicle toward that end, it might be a vehicle worthy of consideration,” he said.

The library system plans to cut its budget by about 24% in the wake of the county’s bankruptcy declaration Dec. 6. Officials said they may be forced to reduce hours, increase fines and fees and perhaps even shut down some libraries as a result. But Adams said no branches are now being targeted for possible closure.

City officials in Seal Beach and Irvine said that in the light of the financial crisis, they simply cannot afford to purchase new property.

Officials in Lake Forest, Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel said they would at least consider the idea. Rancho Santa Margarita is unincorporated and officials in Dana Point and Mission Viejo could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“We don’t have the money to trim trees until this whole thing is settled,” said Seal Beach Councilman William J. Doane. “I don’t see that the city is in a position to buy it.”

But Doane suggested that the Golden Rain Foundation, which runs Leisure World, give some thought to purchasing the Seal Beach-Leisure World branch. The library is just outside the gated retirement community and is used mostly by its residents, he said.

Irvine’s Shea said buying the University Park library with financial conditions so uncertain would be “ludicrous.”

“They have our money,” Shea said of the county. “We would never give them any cash.”

Other city officials said they would at least seek more information on the deal.

*

“I would not reject it out of hand,” said Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank. “We’re willing to look at creative ways to try to help the county get out of the problem.” Frank said Laguna Beach has enough money to consider such a purchase.

Lake Forest City Councilwoman Ann Van Haun said her city might also take a look if the county puts the local library up for sale.

“We would like to do something for the library because the county cut back (its) hours,” Van Haun said. “But we’d have to look at a lot of issues and see all the details before embracing the concept.”

Talk of selling the Mission Viejo branch comes as city officials move forward with plans to build a new state-of-the-art, 20,000 square-foot library. City officials, who have long sought a larger library, had hoped the county would sell its small branch and put the proceeds toward constructing the new building.

Adams said it is too early to tell whether the county will provide any funding to Mission Viejo’s new library.

Times correspondent Alan Eyerly contributed to this report.