HBFoL Digital ArchiveHermosa Beach Friends of the Library

Letters and email · November 2002Estimated date

Condensed library-access argument attributed to Shari Petresky

Undated variant of Petresky's argument, with revised organization and emphatic claims about municipal-library access.

Alternate view of Condensed library-access argument attributed to Shari Petresky
Alternate view · source scan page 69. Click the image to zoom.

Part of this item is hard to read or covered in the scan. A clearer copy is being sought.

Text

Transcribed from the scans and checked against them by Claude. Typed text comes first; handwritten notes follow it. [illegible] marks words that cannot be read and [?] an uncertain reading.

Mayor and City Council City of Hermosa Beach Civic Center 1315 Valley Drive Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 Re: Hermosa Beach withdrawal from the County of Los Angeles Public Library System Dear Mayor and City Council: During the October 22 Public Hearing on the Library, most of the concerns raised appeared to revolve around the issues of: 1. Access to library materials; 2. Speed of delivery of materials; 3. Fee for use of materials. Having worked as a librarian for the County Library for 19 years (four of which as the Librarian in-Charge at the Hermosa Beach Library) as well as having 11 years of experience in an MCLS municipal library as Library Director for the City of Redondo Beach, I have had the opportunity of seeing these issues from both sides of the equation. I would like to offer some insight from my personal experience. Access to Library materials includes Direct Access, Access through Intra-Library Loan, and Access through Inter-Library Loan. If Hermosa Beach withdrew from the County and became a municipal library belonging to the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS) as proposed by LSSI, residents would have direct access to the 32 independent city and special district public libraries and its 136 facilities which include Los Angeles Public Library, Santa Monica Public Library and Long Beach Public Library. In addition, residents would still have direct access to the County Library. DIRECT ACCESS TO MATERIALS WOULD BE MORE THAN DOUBLED. Intra-Library Loan refers to access to materials by means of borrowing them from another branch of the same library. As the County's budget has dwindled, there has been an ever diminishing pool of new materials to borrow and longer waits as more borrowers compete for loans of fewer books. In general, municipal libraries have fared better with materials budgets. Most municipal libraries have adequate funds to purchase the new materials desired by their residents and even have the flexibility to go to the nearest book store and purchase a title, or additional copies, if needed. Municipal libraries do not have to rely on intra-library loan the way the County does. LSSI's proposal of $35,000 a year for materials is far greater than the quoted current budget of $5,000 given by the County to Hermosa Beach. IN TERMS OF INTER-LIBRARY ACCESS TO NEW MATERIALS HERMOSA BEACH RESIDENTS WOULD HAVE GREATER ACCESS TO NEW MATERIALS AS A MUNICIPAL LIBRARY WITHOUT INTRA-LIBRARY LOAN.

Handwritten notes

• (in "the 32 independent") the "3" is written over in pen
Show the original machine reading

Source scan page 69

Mayor and City Council
City of Hermosa Beach
Civic Center 1315 Valley Drive
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Re: Hermosa Beach withdrawal from the County of Los Angeles Public Library System
Dear Mayor and City Council:
During the October 22 Public Hearing on the Library, most of the concerns raised
appeared to revolve around the issues of: 1. Access to library materials; 2. Speed of
delivery of materials; 3. Fee for use of materials.
Having worked as a librarian for the County Library for 19 years (four of which as the
Librarian in-Charge at the Hermosa Beach Library) as well as having 11 years of
experience in an MCLS municipal library as Library Director for the City of Redondo
Beach, I have had the opportunity of seeing these issues from both sides of the equation. I
would like to offer some insight from my personal experience.
Access to Library materials includes Direct Access, Access through Intra-Library Loan,
and Access through Inter-Library Loan.
If Hermosa Beach withdrew from the County and became a municipal library belonging
to the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS) as proposed by LSSI, residents
would have direct access to the 32 independent city and special district public libraries
and its 136 facilities which include Los Angeles Public Library, Santa Monica Public
Library and Long Beach Public Library. In addition, residents would still have direct
access to the County Library. DIRECT ACCESS TO MATERIALS WOULD BE MORE
THAN DOUBLED.
Intra-Library Loan refers to access to materials by means of borrowing them from
another branch of the same library. As the County's budget has dwindled, there has been
an ever diminishing pool of new materials to borrow and longer waits as more borrowers
compete for loans of fewer books. In general, municipal libraries have fared better with
materials budgets. Most municipal libraries have adequate funds to purchase the new
materials desired by their residents and even have the flexibility to go to the nearest book
store and purchase a title, or additional copies, if needed. Municipal libraries do not have
to rely on intra-library loan the way the County does.
LSSI's proposal of $35,000 a year for materials is far greater than the quoted current
budget of $5,000 given by the County to Hermosa Beach. IN TERMS OF INTER-
LIBRARY ACCESS TO NEW MATERIALS HERMOSA BEACH RESIDENTS
WOULD HAVE GREATER ACCESS TO NEW MATERIALS AS A MUNICIPAL
LIBRARY WITHOUT INTRA-LIBRARY LOAN.