LA PALMA : Council OKs Plan to Rescue Library

City Council members heeded their city manager’s warning and made plans this week to save their library should the county decide to put it on the auction block.

The council voted 5-0 to have city officials begin negotiations to take over the library in the short-term and to appoint a task force to consider long-range options.

City Manager Pamela Gibson said Supervisor William G. Steiner had warned her even before the county bankruptcy that the library was “at-risk” for closure. He reconfirmed that prospect this month, Gibson told council members earlier this week.

William J. Popejoy, the county’s chief executive officer, is expected to decide the library’s fate April 4, Gibson said. The county probably would stop subsidizing the library’s $351,000 annual budget on June 30.

“I think this is very important,” said Gibson, noting that the local high school has cut back its own library hours to one class period per day. “I don’t think we should wait until a decision is made.”

Mayor Wally D. Linn agreed. “We need to do everything we can to salvage our library,” he said. “This must move really quickly.”

The council also agreed to have the library appraised so the city can be the first bidder should the building go up for sale. Money from redevelopment funds could be used to buy the library, Gibson said.