Thousand Oaks Awards Library Book-Moving Pact to Eastern Firm : Facilities: The Connecticut company will get $118,950 to transfer contents to the old City Hall and back again after quake repairs are made.

It is harder--and more expensive--than you think to move a library.

Take the Thousand Oaks Library on Janss Road. Badly in need of repair after being damaged during the Northridge earthquake, city officials decided it would be faster to repair the building if the books were not there.

So they decided to move the collection to the old City Hall on Willow Lane, securing a lease with Amgen Inc., which now owns the building.

Now comes the hard part: moving the library’s 290,000 books, magazines and videos from the earthquake-damaged library to the old City Hall, and then moving them back again once the repairs have been made.

On Tuesday, the Thousand Oaks City Council voted unanimously to pay Connecticut-based BiblioTech Inc. $118,950 to do the work.

BiblioTech is among a handful of companies nationwide that specialize in moving libraries.

The company beat out 11 local firms and was awarded the city contract, despite objections from another company that bid on the work.

“Our bid was $12,500 lower,” said Michael Hannin, marketing director of Ventura-based Gemini/United Vanlines.

But city officials reluctantly awarded the bid to BiblioTech because it was the only firm that could get a performance bond within 10 days of the bid award. The bond guarantees that the moving company will complete the job on time.

Most council members said they preferred a local company for the job, but learned they were required to include the bond in the contract.

“The council was just apprised of this,” Councilman Andy Fox said. “And unfortunately we are on a time constraint.”

In order to remove the bond requirement, the project would have to be rebid. Meanwhile, the city’s lease with Amgen requires it to pay the biotechnical giant $40,000 a month starting May 1.

“Each day we delay the move is money lost,” City Atty. Mark Sellers said.

It would take another month or more to rebid the project, Sellers said.

No other company that bid on the project provided a performance bond.

“This will guarantee that they will indeed complete the move on time,” library Deputy Director Steve Brogden said.

The library will close when the move begins May 1. Brogden said the city hopes the library will open in the old City Hall by June. He said the contract calls for the Janss Road library to be opened by May of next year.

More than 500 libraries nationwide require the services of a moving company each year, and about a dozen companies have expertise in the field.

“It is a complicated move,” Brogden said.

The Thousand Oaks Library needs $2.5 million in repairs. The building needs a new ceiling, lighting fixtures and carpet. The City Council decided it would be faster to repair the building with the books moved out.

The repairs and moving costs will be paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.