Library Fee Bill Dies in Committee

A state Senate bill that city officials had hoped would give them some funding relief was rejected by a legislative committee this week.

The bill would have permitted libraries to charge nonresident user fees without losing their state funding. It was rejected Wednesday by the Senate Education Committee.

City officials said they will continue to push for legislation that would allow city libraries to impose the fees.

“This problem is not unique to Newport Beach,” said Peggy Ducey, assistant to the city manager. “The bill has generated interest among libraries throughout the state, and it has sent a message to the State Library Board that we have a problem.”

The Newport Beach Library, which receives about $310,000 a year in state funds, is one of about two dozen statewide that do not charge patrons a fee. The library board estimates that the city’s system has about 1 million patrons, half of whom live outside the city.

The bill would have allowed a nonresident fee of $25. Newport Beach could generate about $375,000 a year with such a fee, officials said.

“I don’t think the issue is dead,” said Councilman Thomas C. Edwards, who represented the city at the Senate committee hearing. “We are hoping that the State Library Board may come back and amend the bill.”