Cities to Examine Library Aid Options

Ventura County cities will be asked to examine a number of financing options to help support the county’s library system--including a special tax or even a takeover of libraries by cities.

Dixie Adeniran, director of the county’s Library Services Agency, said the county can no longer afford to subsidize the 16-branch system and must find another source of funding.

“We are at a major crossroads here,” Adeniran told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “The decisions we make now will have a long-term impact on how library services will be delivered in the future.”

After presenting a list of financing options to the supervisors, Adeniran was directed by the board to provide the same information to cities now served by the county library system and report back to the panel within two months.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said he does not believe voters would support a tax measure. If no other funding sources are found, he said, his city would probably be willing to take over the local branch library.

“If the county can’t do it, then we’ll do it,” he said.

State budget cuts have eliminated nearly 50% of county library funding since 1993. To make up for the lost revenue, the county has spent more than $2.4 million set aside for other programs to subsidize the library system.

Even so, the county library agency has been forced to cut operating hours by half at most branches.