Readers debate library independence and the paper corrects a tax figure

Source scan page 18

WE GET
LETTERS
Prop 14 funds to build a new facility or
enhance technology
There are lots of possibilities and op
tions to be considered. A consultant's
study will give Hermosa's citizens the
hard facts they need to determine the best
course to follow.
C. Frederick Moore
Hermosa Beach
Editor's note: Last week, we asked read-
ers whether Hermosa Beach and Man-
hattan Beach should pull out of the county
library system and set up their own city li-
braries.
Explore the possibilities
I agree with Garrison Frost that the
beach cities receive more advantages by
retaining their affiliation with the county
library system.A major benefit is being
able to borrow from any of the more than
80 county libraries through a central com-
puterized database. This means that when
I request a book, video or CD at the Her-
mosa Beach Library from another branch,
I'm immediately told if it's available and
it's reserved for me free of charge. Usu-
ally it arrives within a week. Right now I
am using books and CDs from the Valen-
Wants to stay with the county
One of the joys of Manhattan Beach
living is immediate access to the
7-million-plus volumes of the largest cir-
culating library in the world. The branch
of the county library system located here
is one of the city's greatest assets, both in-
tellectually and recreationally.
As a writer and researcher, I have been
a heavy user of our library for the past 32
years. It's superb.
A library is much more than bricks and
glass. I'd hate to see the sophisticated
Manhattan Beach residents trade more
than 7 million books and numerous other
benefits for a spiffy new building and an
updated baby-sitting service, only to real.
ize later the severe loss to the community
We should stay with the county library
system.
cia, Newhall, Carson, West Covina,
Malibud Las Virgenes and Claremont
C.E. Zoerner Jr.
Manhattan Beach
branches.
In contrast, independent libraries rely
on interlibrary borrowing systems like the
Metropolitan Cooperative Library System
which have no central database, consider-
ably slower service, less frequent branch
deliveries and often a fee for each item
borrowed. This difference significantly af-
Study will provide choices
The questions raised in the "What do
you Think?" section relating to local li-
braries pulling out of the county system
cannot and should not be answered before
receiving a feasibility study done by a
consultant hired by the city of Hermosa
fects both Hermosa and Manhattan Beach,
since their libraries borrow far more items
An opinion piece such as Garrison
than they lend to others in the system.
Frost's "So you want to pull out of the
While longer hours and an additional
county library system" Sept. 14 serves no
day per week would definitely be desir-
useful purpose. The editorial, filled with
able for Hermosa Beach, leaving the
factual errors, should not be considered se-
county system is not the only way to go.
riously. For instance, Frost is almost
Alternative include paying into a special tax districk for extra hours and materials
$50,000 off on the amount of money that
Hermosa Beach taxpayers contribute for
as do Lomita, Culver City and West Hol-
library services. It's $422,000, not the
lywood; supplementing hours through the
$375,000 mentioned by Frost. He main-
Friends of the Library, as in Marina del
tains that library hours were increased
Rey; allocating a portion of revenue for
after the passage in 1996 of SB 1998. This
the library from events such as Fiesta
bill mandated that the county turn over
Hermosa. We should explore all possibili-
funds dedicated to a city's library to the
ties before we make drastic, irrevocable
city running the library instead of putting
changes.
the money in the county's General Fund.
Toni Empringham
Hermosa Beach
The hours of operation of the Hermosa
Beach library are now and have been since
1995, 35 per week.
The issues should be what can we do to
ensure our library spends its money
wisely, offers the widest spectrum of in-
formation, responds to the desires of Her-
mosa Beach citizens, looks ahead and con-
siders all options to make our library the
best in the present and future. There are
many possibilities for affiliation with other
libraries and districts. Please let's wait
until the consultant presents all of our
choices and withhold our opinion until
Charlotte Malone
Another vote for a study
Regarding whether or not Hermosa
should pull out of the county library sys-
tem is precisely why a consultant study is
needed. Only an independent audit or cost
analysis can determine whether Hermosa
is receiving true value in services and ma-
terials from the tax dollars collected from
Hermosa or whether the city could provide
comparable or enhanced services on their
OWIl
The main problem with staying with
the county is the county's lack of respon-
siveness to unique community needs and
the loss of local control over how best to
serve the library needs of Hermosa's resi-
dents.
Although true that the county has some
good resources, it's also true that there-
sources of all the nation's libraries are
accessible via interlibrary loan. Should
Hermosa choose to withdraw from the
county system, it could join the Metropoli-
tan Cooperative Library System which is
made up of more than 30 libraries includ-
ing the city of Los Angeles, Santa Monica
and Long Beach. Their collective re-
sources are as good, if not better, than the
county's.
If Hermosa withdrew from the county,
in addition to the return of library taxes,
Hermosa would be eligible for additional
funding from the state such as the Public
Library Foundation, which is currently
going to the county, and it could apply for
Editor's note: Malone's figure of
$422,000 is correct. The $375,000 figure
was taken from a Friends of the Library
memo written last year. However, the col-
umn correctly noted that the county in-
creased funding as support for state legis
lation grew.