BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
A proposal to close Long Beach’s main library, which is adjacent to City Hall, is facing stiff opposition. Members of the Long Beach Library Foundation have vowed to do everything in their power to prevent the closure until either a new facility is built or a temporary site is found to house the materials and services the main library provides to the public.
Last week, Mayor Bob Foster presented City Manager Pat West’s recommended fiscal 2008-09 budget to the city council and the public. He noted that West’s proposal to close the main branch would result in significant savings to the city during a time when revenues are declining and the cost of labor and materials continues to rise. The main branch could close as early as November.
“The Manager’s recommendation to shutter the main library will allow us to enhance services at all 11 neighborhood branches to seven days a week and expand hours of operation to levels greater than before the 2004 service cuts,” Foster said. “The computer and homework center services of Main will be temporarily re-located in downtown to meet the most pressing needs of the community. In sum, this measure saves $1.86 million annually by not sinking overhead operations costs into an outdated and broken facility- and removes a $10 million anticipated burden.” (A study undertaken by the city indicated that it would cost $10 million to repair the existing deficiencies in the main branch building,)
Sarah Pillet, executive director of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation said that while the closure might save the city some money, it would also deny important services to a large number of residents. “Our biggest concern is for the services that would be closed to the population here,” she said. “Because of that, we had a meeting with the city manager to get more information about the plan to close Main.” She explained that main branch supporters wanted to know why city officials believe it is necessary to close it this year. “Unfortunately we did not get the answers we were hoping for,” she said. “There was a lot of talk about the budget that had just come out and they had not done analysis on various proposals yet, but no real answers to our questions.”
Pillet said she was bothered that city officials had no plans for providing library services in the interim for the people who rely on the downtown facility as their neighborhood library. She noted that the closest branch library to downtown Long Beach is on Burnett Street at Alamitos Avenue, several miles away, and that would present a hardship to the many low-income residents who reside within walking distance of the main branch.
“This library is about 127,000 square feet and the average of the other branches is about 7,500 square feet,” Pillet added. “The main branch has over 500,000 visitations per year and obviously the other branches are not going to be able to accommodate the people who would normally go to Main.”
Becky Ames, Foster’s chief of staff, said the situation was not as bleak as Pillet’s description. She noted that a large number of the people who use the main branch come for the computer lab or homework center. “We are looking at several different facilities in the downtown area for those two facilities,” she said. “Those services will still be available in the same general vicinity.”
Ames added that, if the council approves the proposal, the main branch would be closed to the public, but some library staff would still work there. “Books and other materials from the main library would be delivered to other branches throughout the city for library card holders who requested them,” she said.
Pillet said that would still present a hardship to many residents in the vicinity who have trouble traveling to other branches. She also questioned the study that indicated the existing building needed $10 million in repairs. “We put in a request for public documents that would prove there really are structural issues with this building that would justify closing it so quickly, with no interim plan, and no temporary library in place,” she said.
The entire library system costs the city about $14 million per year, and about $4,8 million of that is spent on the main library. If the council approves the closure, about $3 million would be distributed to branch libraries throughout the city enabling them to expand their hours and services, and the city’s General Fund budget would be reduced by approximately $1.8 million.
Ames said that city officials are looking at several existing buildings in the downtown area as possible sites for a new main library, and it was also possible that the city could erect a new building. She stressed, however, that there was no way to pay for a new main library unless voters approve Foster’s proposed $571-million bond measure in November.
“The supporters of the library are very concerned about the gap in service,” Pillet said. “It just does not seem like this was carefully thought through.”
She added that several organizations are combining forces and their members are planning on speaking at the city council budget hearings in hopes of persuading city officials to keep the main library open at least until a new temporary home for it is found. “The supporters who have rallied around this cause are not trying to save this building,” Pillet explained. “Our biggest concern is about any gap in services for the 27,000 kids that use this library and the seniors and disabled who live in this area and rely heavily on the services it provides.” Pillet noted that persons interested in joining the effort to keep the library open can get more information at http://savelbpl.blogspot.com.
