Library Agency to Relocate Its Office

Looking to save money on rent, Ventura County officials said Wednesday that they will move the county library system’s administrative offices to the Government Center next month.

The Library Services Agency’s main office has been housed in a privately owned building in the 4200 block of Telegraph Road for the past eight years.

Richard Rowe, who is serving as acting director of the agency, said that the office will be moved May 29 to a fourth-floor suite at the Government Center five miles away. The office, which is staffed by seven employees, handles book purchasing, payroll and accounting for the 15-branch library system.

The county pays $5,134.89 a month for rent at the current site, Rowe said.

The cash-poor library agency is in the midst of a major reorganization, and the move is part of a long-term plan to reduce operating costs. Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester was the one who proposed the move.

Officials could not say how much relocating the library offices will cost, but Rowe said, “We think after about two years that the move will pay for itself.”