Long Overdue, New Library Is in the Works

Like clockwork, Oxnard librarian Tony Ramirez braces for the 5 p.m. crush of visitors. As manager of the south Oxnard branch, he knows students, workers and families will soon stream in and transform the tiny building into a bustling community center.

“By that time, there is not one person coming in; it’s a flow of people--like five, six, eight. The mother comes in with the stroller, the kids run in, the father comes in with the baby at the end,” he said.

It’s part of the evolution of a library in an immigrant neighborhood, Ramirez said, adding that his sanctuary of literature has gone from a once-quiet place to a noisy station of acculturation.

With barely 4,000 square feet, the branch at 200 E. Bard Road fills up if more than one class from a nearby school visits or more than a few families stop by at the same time.

City officials are seeking $5.7 million in state library funds to build a 23,000-square-foot facility in the 4300 block of Saviers Road to better serve the community’s needs--from more computers and study areas to increased literacy programs and additional materials for those learning English.

The library’s total price tag would be $8 million, and the city has agreed to provide the remaining funds, said Barbara Murray, Oxnard’s library director. Construction could begin in 2004 and be completed by 2006, she said.

Competition with other cities for a portion of the state’s $350-million library bond will be stiff, Murray said, but partnerships that the Oxnard library has set up with the Ocean View and Hueneme school districts should give it priority.

The current library branch, housed in a room belonging to the city’s recreation department, would be converted into a youth center if the library funds come through, Murray said.

The library staff surveyed the community to determine what it wants in a new library. Topping the list: computer labs with Internet access, homework assistance, quiet study areas, materials to assist with learning English and literacy programs.

Murray said literacy in this part of Oxnard remains low, and state test scores reveal children in need of help. Of 16 local schools responding to a library survey on Academic Performance Index scores, three ranked 1, most ranked 4 or lower and none ranked higher than 6, with 1 representing the bottom 10% of schools and 10 the top 10%.

A homework assistance center planned for the new library would offer individualized help, and a computer lab would have 74 terminals, compared to nine now.

“I like it here because it has my favorite books,” said Earvin Morales, 11, recently surfing the Internet at the library. “I like history, aliens, wars, Martin Luther King. And magazines with cartoons.”

“Literacy is always about availability--it increases as available resources increase,” said Samuel Carter, a teacher at E.L. Green Junior High whose sixth-grade class visits the library once a month.

The library houses about 48,000 items; the new library could hold about 103,000.

Because the staff learned that between 21% and 79% of neighborhood students take classes in English as a second language, the new library would offer programs designed to raise English skills.

As things stand, up to 150 people are on a waiting list to check out the library’s English training videos. And the library’s Spanish-language collection is also popular, Ramirez said, including health and parenting books and magazines frayed from being checked out hundreds of times.

Ramirez said patrons are interested in even more books on health, learning English, getting a job and obtaining citizenship.