New Library Might Be Without County Ties

The new library under construction would have no ties to the county library system under a staffing proposal being considered by city officials.

The City Council will review a plan Monday under which the city staff would hire its own personnel for the library at a cost of about $144,000 more annually than working through the county system.

City Manager Dan Joseph said that choosing to stay with the county system would mean that Mission Viejo would not be able to design or change programs or choose what kinds of books to put on the shelves of the library, expected to open next year.

“We don’t get to tailor-make our own programs” if county librarians are used, Joseph said. “We broke away from the county specifically to be able to control our own library.”

In 1995, the county granted Mission Viejo officials permission to use special taxes paid by city residents to support a new library. The city is spending about $6 million to build the 28,000-square-foot facility at La Paz Road and Marguerite Parkway.

Hiring staff to operate the library will cost $781,286 annually, as opposed to $637,847 through the county program, Joseph said.

A third option before the City Council would be to use a firm that provides temporary employees to libraries, a program that would cost $1.03 million annually, officials said.