Financially Pressed County Libraries Turning New Leaves : Services: Bestsellers are available immediately--for a fee. For another fee, materials can be accessed by computer.

The next time you run down to the library for a best-selling copy of a steamy new romance or the latest mystery thriller, make sure you bring your library card. And don’t forget that $1.50.

For the first time, county libraries will charge a fee for users who want immediate copies of the hottest bestsellers. But patrons with patience can still get the book free. They’ll just have to get on a waiting list with everyone else, officials said.

“We’ll still have the bestsellers, Danielle Steel, Tom Clancy, for free,” said Orange County Librarian John Adams. “But as a service for people who want it now , they can pay and get it.”

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the bestseller fee and a handful of other new charges that will face library users beginning July 1. The price hike that will most directly affect patrons will be overdue fees, which were raised from 20 cents a day to 25 cents a day with a maximum of $10.

Adams also announced a plan to let computer enthusiasts use a 900 telephone number for access to the library system’s reference lists, patron records, lists of available books, and more than 700 on-line magazines and periodicals. The service will cost users 50 cents a minute.

“It’s unprecedented,” Adams said.

Adams said the changes are part of library efforts to become more service-oriented. The higher fees are also aimed at helping the library system deal with the anticipated impact of the county’s bankruptcy. “We want to move into the computer age,” he said. “We believe it will help make us more relevant to Orange County residents.”

The board action comes during what may be the most troubled period yet for the county’s 28 libraries, which serve more than 750,000 people.

In the wake of the county bankruptcy, the library must find a way to shave $3 million from its current annual budget of $23 million. Possibilities include closing down six branches.

The board will consider the closures next Tuesday.

Adams stressed that the $1.50-per-week fee will allow the library to purchase more bestsellers. He said the library will still end up losing money despite the fees and service charges for computer hook-ups.

The only public complaint about the bestseller fees came from Helen O’Brien of Garden Grove.

“I think it’s a very bad precedent,” O’Brien said. “The library is there for people to learn, for our children, and not to go to the library to pay another fee.”

The board stressed, however, that the fee increases are in step with the fees charged by other libraries.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton also noted that some people mistakenly believe that libraries are “free.”

“Nothing is free,” the supervisor noted. “Someone is paying. We’re all paying.”