Library Friends Donate Funds for New Computers

When Evelyn Stanfield applied for money to fund Internet-access computers at the Granada Hills branch library in 1996, she figured there would be some documents to fill out. But she did not expect as much red tape.

“There was a time where I was almost inclined to give up,” recalled Stanfield, president of Friends of the Granada Hills Library. “But I thought, no, I just won’t give up. I’m like a dog with a new bone. Once I commit to something, I have to see it through.”

Stanfield will see things through at the Granada Hills Library today, when the group presents a check for $63,100 to the nonprofit Los Angeles Library Foundation.

This summer, the Sunshine Canyon Trust Fund awarded Stanfield’s group $53,100. As part of a court-ordered agreement, the operator of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill provides funds to the city for improvements in Granada Hills. Stanfield added $10,000 from the Friends’ treasury to the sum.

Stanfield, 67, said she wanted to pay for the computers because they can help all library users--from children whose school libraries are inadequate to senior citizens who want to learn to use the Internet.

“It’s an all-around program for all age groups that we really needed to have,” said Stanfield.

In July 1998, the Granada Hills Library received 10 new computers with access to the Internet and databases, said Senior Librarian Tina Hanson. The library foundation paid for the computers and will be reimbursed by the $63,100 donations from the Friends group, said Los Angeles Public Library spokesman Peter Persic.

The Granada Hills branch received the new computers as part of the Virtual Library project, a process of connecting all 67 branches to the Internet and to databases, Persic said.

In the past, the Granada Hills Library had only one such computer, Hanson said.

“All 10 are filled every moment we’re open,” she said. “They’ve been very popular.”