Library Hours, Book Funding May Grow

The Camarillo Library may soon be open a few more hours each week and may be able to purchase new books.

The City Council will decide Wednesday evening if it will follow the county library committee’s recommendation to continue to work with other Ventura County cities and join a library joint powers authority.

The authority, which is expected to include eight members--one elected official from each member city and one county supervisor--will be responsible for making budgetary and operational recommendations to the Board of Supervisors.

The board will be bound by the authority’s recommendations unless there is a four-fifths vote of the board to override it.

“The theory is that these changes are going to make the system run more efficiently and provide more resources that will be a direct benefit to the citizens and fewer resources directed to the management and bureaucracy,” said Councilman Bill Liebmann, who has been Camarillo’s representative on the library implementation committee since February.

If this passes, the Camarillo Library, which has 55,000 cardholders, would increase its weekly hours of operation from 48 to 55 in September. The county had previously supplied funding to keep it open 39 hours and Camarillo pitched in $65,000 to make up the difference.

The library would also receive $30,000 to upgrade its book supply. But the additional hours and book money aren’t quite enough for the people who run the library.

“I don’t think anything will change because we are still dealing with the same basic situation--a $10-million library system and only $5 million to run it,” said Mary Lynch, Camarillo supervising librarian. “The $30,000 isn’t nearly enough--I could easily spend $95,000, particularly on updating reference, business, population, health and law items.”