Council Endorses Library Layoff Plan

The City Council has endorsed a county library reorganization that would keep branches open longer hours by cutting 15 jobs.

In approving the plan this week, council members acknowledged it could result in slower service. But library officials say it is the only way to keep the current hours and add to book and periodical collections.

Under the plan, Ventura’s three branches would lose one librarian and one library technician. But the branches would stay open their current total of 120 hours a week up from 36 hours last year.

“It’s a very difficult trade-off,” said Bill Fulton, chairman of the Ventura Library Advisory Commission, which endorsed the plan on a 4-1 vote last week.

The reorganization would reduce the countywide library staff from 67 full-time positions to 52. Thirty-four workers would be laid off but allowed to apply for 19 jobs.

Mayor Jim Friedman will take the city’s support for the plan to a new library oversight panel, which consists of seven city representatives and one member of the county Board of Supervisors.

The panel is to consider the reorganization on Tuesday. County supervisors relinquished decision-making authority over the 15-branch system after years of criticism from library users.