Publication Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2004
City Council rejects proposal to close library branches
City Council rejects proposal to close library branches
(December 15, 2004) Officials also support full-service facility
by Bill D'Agostino
Palo Alto will not be closing any of its beloved branch libraries in the near future but is aiming to one-day build a new "full-service library."
Amidst much public pressure, the City Council this week unanimously rejected a proposal from Library Director Paula Simpson to close its two smallest libraries, in the College Terrace and Downtown neighborhoods, by June 2007. Simpson argued doing so would improve service at the three larger braches, but council members and residents were credulous about that claim.
"Closing libraries won't bring us any closer to a new full-service library or improvements," College Terrace resident Paula Sandas said. A bond or a parcel tax might, she added, but residents who lose their branch libraries would vote against such a tax measure.
The library director believes the multiple branches are financially unsustainable over time because of the redundancies inherent in staffing librarians and stocking books. Closing the two branches would allow the city to open both Main and Mitchell Park libraries three additional hours a week, she noted. The two smaller branches are each currently open 28 hours a week and account for less than 10 percent of the library system's budget.
Councilwoman Hillary Freeman argued the branch-library system is part of the "core fabric" of the community, allowing residents to walk to them. "Sometimes Palo Alto really is different," she said.
Forty residents spoke to the council on the subject during Monday night's meeting; the vast majority against closing the branches. Much of the push was from neighbors of the threatened branches, but the Friends of the Palo Alto Library also played a role. During its monthly book sale last weekend, the group distributed flyers reading: "Don't let the city axe our library branches."
There were a few speakers who supported closing libraries to reap larger community benefits. Editorials from two city papers, the Palo Alto Weekly and San Jose Mercury News, also endorsed it.
Not all of Simpson's ideas were dropped. The council voted conceptually in favor of the eventual construction of a new full-service library, and asked its Library Advisory Commission to study how that could happen.
Such a new library could offer services not available at the city's current libraries, including a homework center, author readings, a literacy program and a technology room. It would likely be located at the site of either the current Main or Mitchell Park libraries, but city-owned land near California Avenue -- located closer to the geographical center of the city -- is also a possibility.
The council's action nearly mirrored the long-term advice the library commission gave it, although the council did not give libraries requested additional short-term funds. That will likely mean that library service will erode further next year, as the city is facing a $5.2 million budget shortfall.
"I'm unwilling to give the libraries a pass," Councilwoman Dena Mossar said.
The motion to support and study a full-service library was not unanimous; Mossar and Councilman Vic Ojakian rejected it. "I don't want to tie anybody's hands at this stage," Ojakian said.
During the past few years, the city has shortened hours at its branches. The libraries' facilities, meanwhile, are also failing to meet needs -- they lack air conditioning and enough space for customers and collections. Students at the Mitchell Park Library study on furniture located outside due to lack of space. Throughout the system, librarians have to remove one book for each new one they purchase.
Constructing a new building, though, will not solve all of the libraries' problems. Librarians are already overworked, often unable to find time to recruit and train volunteers or apply for grants, according to the library director. A new library would require new funding for additional workers.
So did the council simply delay the hard choices until another day?
Mayor Bern Beecham warned his colleagues they were asking for too much. "We don't have the budget for it," he said.
But other council members hoped the libraries would change how they deliver services to become more efficient.
"The message is to look at new ways of doing business," Councilwoman Yoriko Kishimoto said.
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.
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