SANTA PAULA : New Board to Oversee Blanchard Library

After years under the jurisdiction of the Santa Paula school board, the Blanchard Community Library has been awarded its own independent board.

In a unanimous vote, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed last week to create a special governing panel to oversee the operations of the library, which serves about 28,000 residents in the Santa Paula area.

Unlike other area libraries, the Blanchard Community Library is not part of the county library system. Instead, voters agreed to create a special taxing district in 1968, which until now has been managed by the Santa Paula Union High School District.

The supervisors agreed to create an independent governing board, after Gov. Pete Wilson approved legislation in October allowing the process. The new board will take office in January.

Five members of the library’s new board of trustees were appointed by the supervisors.

Three members--Gene Marzec, Jim Rescoe and Patricia Alderson--will serve four-year terms; Mal King and Elizabeth Blanchard will be board members for two years.

Daniel Robles, the library director, said the terms of the five trustees were split because beginning in November 1997, library board members will be elected by voters.

“It’s a lot easier to elect three officials at one time than five,” he said.

The five trustees appointed by the supervisors had served for years on the Blanchard Library Commission, a panel which advised the high school board on the operations of the library, Robles said.