OJAI VALLEY : Petitions Call for Tax to Assist Libraries

Hoping to spare their community libraries from further budget cuts, Ojai Valley residents are passing around petitions supporting a $35-per-parcel tax proposal they want placed on the November ballot.

The cities of Ojai and Ventura have already agreed to put such an initiative on the ballot, but residents in the unincorporated areas between those cities want the measure presented to them, too. County supervisors will discuss the measure at their meeting Tuesday night.

A parcel tax is one way library advocates hope to drum up much-needed funding for some of Ventura County’s 15 libraries, which have been scaled back by $5 million in the past three years.

This year, county leaders have said they can only provide half of the $1.6 million requested by library officials. That would mean seven small libraries, including one in Oak View, would probably be closed.

On Saturday, patrons of the Ojai Library signed petitions supporting a parcel tax initiative as they checked out books, and expressed concern over the possibility of library closures.

“I think it would be sad if they closed them,” said Ojai resident Franklin Scott, who was helping his 14-year-old daughter, Cosima, select a book for class.

“My kids come here all the time, I come here all the time and I think it is great for the community,” he said.

Franklin was the 24th person to sign the petition showing his support for the initiative in the first hour it was posted by Friends of the Ojai Library.

“Everybody is signing it,” library technician Abby Schlesinger said. “We are just trying to impress upon people that they need to make the supervisors aware that they care about the libraries.”