Readers Respond -- Parents come out to support Mariners library

We read with amazement the letters written in opposition to the

proposed joint-use library. While they make some excellent points

regarding safety (who isn’t in favor of safety?), none of those points is

a reason not to build the new library. Only a feverish imagination would

lead one to conclude not to build a library because pedophiles might go

there (should we close permanently all community playgrounds because evil

people might deposit razor blades and broken glass there?).

Obviously, safety and related issues have been and will continue to be

addressed as this project goes forward and after it is completed.

We have a golden, one-time chance here to build a state of the art

library and repatriate tax dollars too. This is a win-win opportunity for

our children and our community. As the parents of four children, three of

whom attend Mariners Elementary, we fully support the joint-use library.

We hope that others in the community will find the forest through the

trees and rally around this project because our kids deserve this.

BILL and POITA CERNIUS

Newport Beach

I have children who have attended Mariners Elementary School since

1994 and will be there until year 2007. We use the Mariners Branch Public

Library on a weekly basis as well.

I am in full support of the proposed joint-use facility and believe it

will serve the surrounding community and Mariners School very well. I

believe the new library will be much safer than either of the libraries

in existence right now. The facility will have more books, computers,

user-friendly reading areas for all ages groups and will be a great asset

to our community. Many hours of planning and consideration have gone into

this, taking all interests into account.

I encourage people to find out the facts for themselves and not to be

caught up in the scare tactics and half-truths of a small minority. I am

grateful to be in a community that values public libraries and I hope to

see new one on Irvine Avenue in the near future.

SUSIE CALL

Newport Beach

Everyone wants a new library, don’t they? The public library is an

institution as American as motherhood and apple pie. It’s a safe issue

for our local political leaders, easy to rally community enthusiasm and

avoids the controversy associated with some of the messier issues we

face. Or so it seems.

The proposed Mariner’s joint-use library would replace the existing

public and school libraries with a new facility, to be built at a cost of

about $3 million. Of this amount, $2 million would be provided by the

state and the remaining million raised from local contributions or paid

for by the city of Newport Beach. This proposal has been championed by

the Newport Beach library administration as a means to replace the

existing facility they view as outdated.

Several recent letters have discussed the pros and cons of this

proposal. Although some of these issues are debatable, particularly those

relating to the benefit to the school, some aspects of the proposal are

clear. The current proposal would create a larger facility, reducing the

size of the playing fields and open space in Mariner’s park. Also, since

it is a joint-use facility that is by definition open to the public, the

children of the school will be exposed to risks beyond those they

encounter in the existing school library. It’s not all upside; there are

trade-offs.

What may not be as clear to all readers is how the funds for this

project would be spent. Under the current proposal, the $3 million will

not buy new books, will not expand the hours of the library and will not

expand its reach to people not currently served. Instead, the money will

be spent for a larger structure, a new parking lot and presumably freshly

painted walls and shiny new chairs.

In the current climate of a $20-billion state deficit, one has to ask:

Is this the best use we can think of for these $3 million? In a time when

emergency rooms are closing from lack of funds, in a time when an

increasing portion of our community can’t read English let alone use the

new library, in a time when a tragically large number of our young people

are struggling with the demands of raising a family when their peers are

still in school or in the library, shouldn’t we reconsider our

priorities?

For me, this is one apple pie that has grown sour.

JAMES GULA

Newport Beach

In the May 14 Community Forum, you ran two letters and called it a

discussion. I recently met a lady who said that she was opposed to

building a new, state of the art, joint-use library because it would not

be safe. She added that there was nothing I could say to change her mind

and that she was entitled to her opinion. Where’s the discussion?

In this world, nothing is totally safe. But a new, state-of-the-art,

permanent library by the playground seems a lot safer than an old,

portable library on the playground. For instance, consider the list of

architectural features designed for safety in the new library. These

include and are not limited to a dedicated entrance door on the side

nearest Mariners school, fencing, a glass wall for the children’s section

and increased lighting. The high-tech additions include security

cameras, telephones and filtered Internet access in the children’s

section.

There are expected to be some safety-inspired policy and procedural

plans put in place (“two deep leadership” -- two adult staffers in the

children’s section, one a Mariners school librarian; signing in and out,

etc.). The new joint-use library would be safer with both the city of

Newport Beach and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District involved in

making its safety the best possible.

We are sure that any individual, male or female, bent on endangering

our children would think twice before even coming close to this facility.

We think that the issue of safety is a smoke screen for some that would

scuttle the new joint-use library.

A Joint-use public library and public school library is good

stewardship of public money and public facilities. It makes economic

sense to apply for a grant that would bring $2 million of our tax money

back to our community.

A new library would enhance the property values and show that this

community values libraries and education. Newport Beach is setting the

example by taking the responsibility for managing the property, and

Mariners school would have to share their books, even if the books wear

out sooner. Surely worn out books would be replaced. No one has ever

accused us of doing something just for the money; we support this project

because libraries are good for the community.

In the long run, a new, larger, high tech, $3-million library is

better than the temporary portable and smaller, old building.

The new, joint-use library will let other children rub elbows with the

Mariners school children -- the kids from Kaiser and Woodland Elementary

schools, the kids from private and parochial schools and the

home-schooled kids. Our own children have attended Harper, Woodland,

Mariners, and Newport Heights Elementary schools. Sharing is an advantage

that we support. We don’t mind sharing. Schools and the whole community

would share this new library.

I hope the Daily Pilot will get the facts from the Grassroots

Joint-use Library Committee, the school board and the city of Newport

before writing stories with false and misleading statements from fear

mongering parents whose hearts and minds are closed to discussion. We all

need to get behind this project in the next two weeks.

As for us and our family, you may look for our family name on the wall

of the new library.

THOMAS A. and JUDITH M. GIELOW

Costa Mesa