Closer Look -- Will new library chapter ever open?
Deirdre Newman
NEWPORT BEACH -- As the effort to raise $1 million for the proposed
school-publiv Mariners Library reaches the home stretch, concerns about
the proposal continue to plague the project.
The new state-of-the-art library would be a one-story,
14,000-square-foot building to replace the current Mariners Branch
Library, on Irvine Boulevard. The lot is on city property next to the
Mariners Elementary School campus. Students would no longer use their own
school library, but would go with their teachers to the children’s
section of the public library instead.
So far, supporters have raised more than $500,000, and need the rest
by June 14 to be eligible for $2 million in state funds.
While proponents express confidence that the other half a million will
be procured, opposition to the library is mushrooming. A petition that
began circulating a little more than a week ago, has already garnered
more than 200 signatures, said parent Linda Duffy.
Safety is job one
At issue are safety concerns that opponents say are not adequately
addressed in the proposal. They are calling for the city to explore
alternatives to housing the two libraries together, so Mariners students
can continue to have exclusive use of their own school library.
However, supporters contend that safety concerns are being addressed
as the plans -- which are still a work in progress -- evolve.
“I trust that the school district and the city and the library staff
are doing the best job that they can and will continue to do the best job
they can to make my children safe,” said Theresa Chase, co-chair of the
Committee to Build the New Mariners Library.
The idea for the school-public library was hatched last year to take
advantage of Proposition 14 funds that pay for the joint projects of
separate entities. Mariners School was chosen because of its close
proximity to the branch library, which city officials say is in serious
need of renovation.
As the design stands now, the children’s section will encompass a
3,000-square-foot area. Mariners studentswill have the secured use of an
area inside this section for approximately 30 hours per week. They will
access this area through a separate school entrance. General public
access to the school part of the children’s section will also be
available through the school entrance as long as visitors sign in and get
authorization at the school office.
Although the final details are still being hammered out, current
safety precautions include the separate entrance, separate bathrooms in
the children sections, video cameras and a security patrol.
A good deal for the children
Supporters embarked on their fund-raising campaign in the beginning of
March and so far more than 500 individual donors have pitched in, Chase
said.
Supporters tout the advantages the new library will feature including
new technology, an expanded book collection, extended hours and
additional computers and staff.
Many parents who support the proposal say they have faith in the
school staff to watch out for their children.
“The teachers address safety concerns at school every day and I don’t
think they will abdicate that responsibility just because there’s a new
library that’s open to the public,” said Susan Graham, who has a first-
and a fourth-grader at Mariners.
But as plans advanced, concerned parents started voicing their fears
about safety. In early May, Duffy and other opponents launched a web site
to inform others about the risks they believe are inherent in a shared
facility like the potential of pedophiles accessing pornographic material
on the Internet and then accosting children.
Parents are also wary about strangers lurking around the campus. Karen
McClory said she is concerned that an incident that happened to her son
four years ago when he was a fifth-grader at the school could become more
prevalent with a shared library.
McClory said her son and some of his friends were attacked during
school hours by some teenage boys who had been using the branch library.
She said the openness of the school setting makes the children vulnerable
enough already without the additional risk of the library.
“Many times the yard duty has had to separate a strange adult from the
park or the library,” McClory said. “It is a big, public place outside of
our school. There’s always something they need to watch.”
Other ideas
One of the suggestions recently floated by opponents is to change the
nature of the proposal from a shared facility to a joint venture, which
would enable the school to keep its own library. This would also allow
the proposal to still be eligible for top-priority Proposition 14 funds,
said Richard Hall, state library bond act manager.
This would also alleviate the concerns of some opponents who fear the
students access to the library and to the books inside the children’s
section will be hampered by the shared use.
“The proposed off-campus library would severely restrict the students’
access to open book check-outs and study use at recess,” said Gerry Nack,
library clerk at the Mariners School Library, in an e-mail message.
“These students’ library visits would be dictated by the availability of
an adult escort.”
Other worries relate to the recreational nature of the park near the
school. Some residents have raised the issue of the tennis courts being
moved, but the city is going to cover the expense of relocating them next
to the fire station.
The city will also be moving the batting cages to an as-of-yet
undetermined location, said City Manager Homer Bludau.
Others have voiced concerns about a new, larger library changing the
neighborhood flavor of the park. Bludau dismissed this fear as well.
“No one wants to see that happen and I don’t think that would happen,”
Bludau said. “We expect the same people that are using the library now.
They may use it with more frequency, but it’s really for the same
people.”
A new breed of library
The only other school-public library in the county is currently being
built in Ladera Ranch by the Capistrano Unified School District.
It is being constructed as part of a new campus that will also include
an elementary and middle school. The two-story library will be housed
between the two schools, with the ground level serving the needs of the
students only and the second level available to the general public. There
will be no access to the school from the upstairs portion of the library,
said John Adams, county librarian.
“The Capistrano Unified School District was extremely concerned about
the questions of security and had to be very resourceful in developing a
solution that would satisfy those concerns,” Adams said.
Newport Beach city officials say they are applying the same
creativeness to the proposed Mariners library while they work out the
final details. Many of the parents’ concerns have already been taken into
consideration, said Bludau.
There has been a major change in the design of how to keep a physical
separation between the children’s section and other sections during
school hours, he said.
While at first, the burden was up to the library staff to monitor the
separation, now architects are devising a more physical separation like
roll-away doors. Bludau said more complete design and security measures
will be available next week.
Although there are two subsequent funding phases after the June 14
deadline, revising the library proposal is not a viable option, Bludau
said.
“There’s less than two weeks time to get the application in and to get
an application prepared for a remodel just isn’t going to happen -- not
because of the short time frame involved -- but because neither the City
Council or the school board feel that would be the best project,” Bludau
said.
Both entities will vote on the proposal on June 11.
* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)
574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .
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