Board Seeks $8.4 Million to Expand Lancaster Library : State bonds: Supervisors will request funds to build a facility three times as large. Some patrons are now forced to sit on the floors.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to seek more than $8 million in state funding to expand the overcrowded Lancaster Public Library, where patrons are often forced to sit on the floor.

The county will apply for $8.4 million in state library bond funds. If state money is received, Lancaster will provide $7 million more, largely from redevelopment funds, to build a regional library nearly three times as large as the existing structure.

Competition for the $75 million in bond funds will be stiff, however.

During a pre-application period last fall, the state received requests to fund 104 library projects totaling $325 million.

Richard Hall, manager of the bond program, said officials will award funds based on criteria including projected population growth and the age and condition of the existing library.

Recipient libraries will be notified later this year.

Since the library was built in 1964, Lancaster’s population has skyrocketed, nearly doubling in the last 10 years alone.

A report submitted to the supervisors by County Librarian Sandra F. Reuben said the library is overwhelmed by crowds.

“At busy times in the afternoons, evenings and weekends there are virtually no seats available,” Reuben said in her report, which is to be submitted as part of the application to the state.

“Patrons occupy all of the seats including those at the business and periodical tables, blocking use of those reference sources by others,” she said. “Adults then move into available seating in the adjacent children’s area, often startling young patrons. When no seat is available, groups of students sit on the lobby floor to study.”

Librarians’ offices are located in former supply closets and in a shipping and maintenance area.

The four weekly story time sessions for children all have waiting lists.

Although the library consistently ranks first or second in circulation activity among the county’s 90 libraries, older books must be removed to make room for new ones.

There is not enough space to store back issues of periodicals.

“The collection is jammed on shelves and located illogically in widely separated areas due to lack of shelving space,” Reuben said.

Construction plans for the proposed 62,000-square-foot Lancaster library have already been completed.

The building program calls for a 260% increase in seats, from 99 to 350.

It calls for more bookshelves, better lighting, larger and quieter study areas, an expanded children’s wing, and wiring to accommodate more advanced computer systems.

The new library also is to include a literacy center and additional public rooms to meet community demand.