Briefly in the news

Costa Mesa’s library services committee on Tuesday selected Lance

Jenkf as its new chairman.

After he was chosen, Jenkf chaired the rest of the meeting, the third

for the loosely formed committee.

Jenkf “definitely loves books and libraries,” said Tom Egan, a member

of the committee and the Costa Mesa Library Foundation. “Everyone

participated, and it was really a great meeting. He is leading us

forthrightly into the future.”

The committee, made up of community members interested in library

services, began meeting in November as part of the city’s planning for

its future.

Mayor Libby Cowan has run the previous two meetings but stepped down

to allow the committee to be more community oriented.

The group is planning to decide on possible improvements to the city’s

library services and to make recommendations to the City Council at a May

or June study session -- before budget decisions are made for the next

fiscal year.

The participants are working to define their personal library dreams

and plan to consolidate those dreams in the future. The group members

each visited a library outside of the city and then had a brainstorming

session at the meeting, throwing out new ideas that came from their

visits.

Most committee members said they want more space, more books, more

computers and better architecture at the libraries, Egan said. Other

ideas include opening a large, central library; opening more branches;

and having bookmobiles, buses filled with books, that stop in different

city neighborhoods on a fixed schedule, to allow people without

transportation better access to books.

“Most everybody wanted the library to be a more inspiring place to

go,” Egan said. “But this is just the dreaming phase, with very spirited

discussions. Of course the discussions didn’t address any practical

things like cost.”

Information: (714) 754-5028.