Library to Be Shuttered Another Day

Cuts in library budgets across L.A. County will soon hit Culver City, with reduced hours going into effect at the Julian Dixon Branch on July 12.

As of that date, the library -- which is already closed Sundays -- will also be shut Mondays. It will be open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On  June 7, the County Board of Supervisors approved their 2010-2011 budget, which includes a reduction in funds for the county's 90 libraries. The projected county library budget is $58 million for fiscal year 2010-2011, down from $68.4 million for 2009-2010, said Terri Maguire, chief deputy county librarian.

The reduction in hours and other library services will save the county about $10 million for the fiscal year that begins Thursday.

She couldn't provide a figure for how much the county is saving by closing the Julian Dixon branch an additional day.

"I want to support the retention of hours and services of the Culver City Library," a student from Santa Monica College told the City Council at its meeting Monday. "It would be a huge loss to reduce the hours." 

At the Monday meeting, representatives from the Service Employees International Union, Local 721, challenged the county's contention that a reduction in hours would lead to significant budget savings.

"They have failed to show how reducing days or services… will lead to savings," the SEIU's Sergio Barahona told the council. More than a dozen employees at Julian Dixon are members of Local 721, according to a union spokesman.

Mayor Christopher Armenta  and the City Council decided to send a letter to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors asking the panel "to preserve the hours and to preserve the staffing levels of the library."

Annually, Culver City pays approximately $910,000 of property tax dollars and approximately $360,000 in special library taxes to L.A. County for library services. The Julian Dixon branch requires $2.6 million to operate every year, and the budget gap is taken care of by the county library system, said Maguire.

However, unincorporated areas of the county are keeping their current schedule of days and hours because their residents contribute "more in revenue," Maguire said. And cities in which the special library tax is not paid--such as Carson--will be reduced to only four days of library service per week.

"It's very regrettable to have to reduce the library's days of service," said Pamela Broussard, public information officer for the County of Los Angeles Public Library system. "We hope as the economy comes back we can re-establish days of service."

Coming soon: We'll be checking in with library employees and users to get their take on this matter. Weigh in on how you feel about it on our Facebook or Twitter page.