Library Hours Expanded at 5 Branches

For the first Tuesday since 1993, the signs on the doors of Ventura’s Wright and Foster libraries both read “Open.”

“The new hours make me happy,” said Laura Moline after shuttling her daughter and three other children to downtown’s Foster Library. “Before, I’d always had to remember which day it was and which branch was open.”

The scene was similar around the county, where hours have expanded at five of the 15 branches operated by the Ventura County Library Services Agency.

In Simi Valley, Marly Harris, a 22-year library patron, was thrilled when she learned that the library would now be open Fridays and Saturdays.

“When I walked up to the entrance I was hyperventilating, I was so excited,” Harris said of seeing the sign with the new posted hours. “My son says it’s funny I get so excited about these things, but that’s the way it should be. Libraries should be open seven days a week in the ideal world.”

The agency’s expanded hours are not the result of increased operating funds, but rather of a restructuring plan that cuts administrative costs while funneling more money to the larger branches, said agency spokeswoman Trish Cavanaugh. The other branches adding hours were Moorpark and Camarillo.

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The library agency’s budgetary woes began in 1992, when its then $10-million budget started shrinking.

In 1993, all 15 county library branches cut back hours drastically and laid off employees as the budget continued to decrease. It now stands at less than $5 million a year.

In recent years, the agency’s branches--which serve all cities except Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Santa Paula--have limped along on three- or four-day weeks, with varying hours.

Moline’s daughter, Katharine Harris, was one of those who plan to take advantage of the new schedule.

“It’s wonderful,” said 15-year-old Katharine, who worked on a computer with friend Jeannie Paschal at Foster after their first day of school at Ventura High.

“It makes it more accessible to come from the high school, if you have to do a report,” Katharine said.

Librarians also appreciate the fact that children will benefit from the changes.

“I think the students will like the extra hours in the evening,” said Moorpark children’s librarian Mary Goldberg.

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Librarian Jenny Phelps, who has worked alternating days at Ventura’s Wright and Foster branches for four years, points out that the downside is that patrons may find the library has more of a self-service feel, with “more hours and less depth of staffing. We’ll have half a staff at each branch now.”

Sandi Banks, supervising librarian of the Foster and Wright branches, said the changes followed a recent survey. “We . . . asked people when they wanted the library to be open,” Banks said. “They said Saturday was the most important, followed by Monday, then Friday. The most popular time of day was afternoons.”

Banks added that the libraries will probably have fewer full-time staff and more part-timers in the future.

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The Simi Valley Library and other branches in Ventura County will also bring back popular theme boxes, which contain books as well as play material such as puppets to help day-care workers read to preschoolers.

Having libraries reach out to the children is important for Dale La Casella, a teacher at Simi Valley Adult School, who says children are now getting much of their information from computers and have forgotten or no longer know what is available to them in libraries.

“There are resources there, and they are very valuable to know about,” La Casella said as she lounged on a red sofa reading a novel about American presidential candidates who lost.

The Ojai Library has boasted Friday hours for a year now, since voters chose to tax property owners to keep its doors open longer. The extra hours are a hit with patrons, said Kit Willis, the Ojai Library’s interim librarian.

“People love it,” she said. “They come in and say, ‘I’m here just to stand in a library on a Friday.’ ”

Correspondent Regina Hong contributed to this story.

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Library Hours

Camarillo

Camarillo Library:

Mon.-Wed.: 10-9

Thurs.: 10-6

Fri.: 1-5

Sat.: 10-5

Sun.: 1-4

Fillmore

Fillmore Library:

Mon. & Tues.: 3-7

Wed.: 10-5

Thurs.: 1-5

Sat.: Noon-5

Moorpark

Moorpark Library:

Mon. & Wed.: Noon-8

Tues., Thurs.: 10-8

Sat.: 1-5

Ojai

Meiners Oaks Library:

Mon. & Wed.: 10-1, 2-6

Tues. & Thurs.: 1-6

Oak View Library:

Mon. & Thurs.: 2-6

Tues.: 11-1, 2-6

Wed.: 2-8

Sat.: 1-5

Ojai Library:

Mon.-Thurs.: 10-8

Fri.-Sun.: Noon-5

Port Hueneme

Prueter Library:

Mon. & Tues.: 3-7

Wed.: 10-5

Thurs.: 1-5

Sat.: Noon-5

Simi Valley

Simi Valley:

Mon.-Thurs.: 11-9

Fri. & Sun.: 1-5

Sat.: 10-5

Ventura

Avenue Library:

Mon.-Wed.: 2-7

Thurs.: 2-6

Foster Library:

Mon.-Thurs.: 10-8

Fri. & Sat.: 10-5:30

Wright Library:

Mon. & Tues.: 10-8

Wed.-Fri.: 2-6

Sat.: 9-5

County

Oak Park Library:

Mon.-Thurs.: 3-8

Sat.: 1-5

Piru Library:

Mon.-Wed. & Fri.: 3-7

Thurs. & Sat.: 1-5

Saticoy Library:

Mon.-Thurs.: 1-6

Sat.: 10-2

Soliz-El Rio Library:

Mon.-Thurs.: 10-6

Fri.: 10-5

Sat.: 8:30-12:30, 1-5