Cramped Peninsula Library Seeks Funding to Grow

Saying space in its main library has become so scarce that a book must be discarded every time a new one is purchased, the Palos Verdes Library District is hoping to persuade peninsula residents to approve a $16-million bond sale to double the size of the facility.

Voters in the four bedroom communities that make up the district will go to the polls June 4 to decide whether general obligation bonds should be sold to expand the main library, which is in Rolling Hills Estates. The bonds would be paid for over 25 years through a special assessment on property tax bills.

“We have a library that is crammed full of everything, and we need more space,” said Jeanne Jones, who heads Yes on Libraries, the committee spearheading the drive to get the bond issue approved by two-thirds of the voters. “There are no quiet areas, there is no room for children, there is no room for the adults, there is no room, period,” she added.

No formal opposition to the bond issue has emerged.

Besides the bond issue, the library district also has applied for $9 million in state money under the California Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 1988. The district--composed of Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates--will find out later this month whether it will receive the money.

If the district is awarded the state money, it would not be forced to sell all $16 million in bonds to pay for the expansion project, library district officials said.

However, because of uncertainty over whether the state funds will be forthcoming--and with county deadlines looming for putting a measure before the voters--the library district decided to ask residents to approve issuing enough bonds to fund the entire project.

“We had to go for the full $16 million on the assumption we wouldn’t get state funding,” said Linda Elliott, director of the library district.

With a budget of about $3.8 million and 85 employees, the Palos Verdes Library District is the third-largest library district in the state funded directly through an assessment on local property owners.

The district is governed by a five-member board of directors that oversees operations at the main branch as well as at two smaller branch libraries in Palos Verdes Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes. Directors are elected to four-year terms.

Library district officials said the main branch opened in 1967 and was expected to serve the peninsula’s library needs for 20 years. But it became cramped within a decade as the peninsula’s population swelled. There were 42,600 people living in the four communities when the branch opened; now there are about 83,000.

The main branch serves 48,500 registered cardholders and desperately needs more space for books, periodicals and other reference materials, library district officials said. There is insufficient seating space, and the building itself needs to be seismically updated.

Additionally, demands on the main library are expected to increase this fall when the peninsula’s public school system consolidates its three high school campuses into one at Rolling Hills High School. That campus is within easy walking distance of the main library.

Under the library district’s plan, which ultimately must be approved by Rolling Hills Estates city officials, the library would be doubled to about 70,000 square feet. Outside patios would be enclosed, and underground and rooftop parking areas would be expanded.

Library district officials said the cost of paying off the bonds will vary depending on the assessed valuation of a resident’s home and the interest rate obtained when the bonds are sold. However, it has been estimated that a homeowner whose property is assessed at $250,000 would pay just under $20 a year for 25 years.

“It’s the cost of a good hard-cover (book),” Jones said.

That cost will decrease if the library district obtains the state funds and does not have to issue $16 million worth of bonds. The district is one of about 50 applicants statewide that are competing for a share of the bond act funds.

State Librarian Gary Strong said various criteria are used to determine which libraries should receive funds, including how far the library is from neighboring ones and whether it is a central or a branch library.

The state library’s board of directors will meet April 23 to decide who should receive up to $34 million from the bond act, Strong said. Under the act, a total of $74 million will eventually be dispersed for library projects.

Despite the intense competition for the state funds, Elliott said she is optimistic the Palos Verdes Library District will obtain a share.

“I think we have a really strong project,” she said. “We have done our homework.”