City to Become Owner of County-Run Library

The city has struck a deal to take over ownership of the E.P. Foster Library and to pay for its expansion, while the county remains in charge of operations.

Under the plan approved Thursday by library officials, the county has agreed to move its administrative offices out of the library’s second floor by April and turn it over to the city.

In exchange, the city will spend $1.5 million to renovate the overcrowded, dilapidated downtown structure.

The move will double the space at the city’s main library from 16,000 to 32,000 square feet, as well as transfer ownership of the building from the county to the city. The city will then lease the building to the county for $1 a year.

Library services and contents, including everything from books to computers, will continue to be managed by the county, said Mayor Jim Friedman.

Friedman called the unanimous decision by the county Library Service Commission--which includes representatives from each city that is part of the county library system--a “great victory for library users across the city.”

“Two and a half years ago we did a library master plan, and the No. 1 thing residents said was our libraries needed a lot more square footage,” Friedman said.

That is precisely what this agreement will accomplish, the mayor said.

“We can double the space of E.P. Foster Library for users in Ventura and make infrastructural improvements that will make the library much more user friendly,” he said.

In addition to opening the second floor up as library space, planned changes include better lighting, a better look to the library and better air circulation, he said. The air circulation system has been broken for years, Friedman said.

The county has 15 libraries, with branches in Camarillo, Simi Valley, Ojai, Ventura, Moorpark, Fillmore and Port Hueneme. Three of those branches are in the city of Ventura. E.P. Foster is one of the county’s three largest branches.

In addition to the transfer of property, the city of Ventura will loan the county $300,000--to be paid back over five years--to do maintenance the county has not kept current. This includes making restrooms handicap accessible, removing asbestos, renovating the air circulation system and repairing the book-theft prevention system.

The county administrative offices currently housed in the upstairs of Foster will move to a 9,500-square-foot space in the Tolman Riker Building at 196 Fir St.

Friedman said the city had agreed to budget $1.5 million for renovations, under the condition that the building would revert to city control in 2056. But he said he and the City Council decided to try and immediately acquire the library.

“Now we’ve accelerated when the city takes title of the library by 57 years,” he said. “So we can have the pride of owning the building as well as owning the land.”