This opinion piece, collaboratively written by members of FLF, appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on February 13, 2011
A task force appointed by the Library Joint Powers Board spent six months developing four library service models, all fiscally sustainable, one of which the Board will select Monday night. The Santa Cruz City Council, under Mayor Ryan Coonerty's leadership, has felt the need to endorse a service model that will close branches, prior to the board's decision.
By this vote, the City Council is violating the spirit of both Measures B and R and their clearly stated intentions regarding "preserving existing libraries" and "the support of existing local public libraries." Measure B, approved by 72 percent of voters in 1996, established a temporary ¼-cent sales tax to support the library system; Measure R, approved by 73 percent in 2008, made that tax permanent. City legal staff say that as long as the library system spends money for just one of the things promised in these measures, they are safe on legal grounds. But in regard to their duty to the voters, they are in the wrong.
Legal cover will do little to persuade a public that there has been no breach of faith. The intention to preserve or support existing branches is first and foremost in the expenditure plans of both measures. The text of Measure B refers specifically to expansion of services for two of the branches now threatened with closure, and the argument made for Measure R claims that the measure "ensures that our ... libraries can continue to serve you" listing each branch by name.
We voters have long memories. From one bad-faith action on the part of public officials, we tend to conclude that they, and public officials generally, are not to be trusted. If library branches are closed, many voters will legitimately conclude that reasonable expectations regarding the use of these tax funds have not been met -- not out of necessity and a lack of other feasible options, but out of choice.
In the case of the library sales-tax, the loss of support of even a portion of avid library users, joined with strong anti-tax advocates, may well spell doom for a future facilities bond measure, one that is sorely needed to bring library facilities to current standards. What may appear to be a gain now may become a serious long-term liability to our library system.
The cost of retaining the four threatened branches is a small portion of the library budget. This is a philosophical, not a fiscal, issue: Is the pain of the current budget crisis to be shared throughout the county, or is it to be felt mainly by certain constituencies?
Professionals within the Library system characterize Library Model C as nostalgic and out-of-date, while Model D is the wave of the future. Yet, throughout the country, there is evidence to the contrary, as communities go to their branches for the very things identified in our library's strategic plan: reading, viewing and listening for pleasure; lifelong learning, community connections; and a welcoming place. Model C is the future of public libraries here in Santa Cruz County, matching the will of the voters and maintaining their trust as the library system moves through its current fiscal crisis.
Paul Machlis is a member of the Santa Cruz Public Library Task Force, a librarian at UC Santa Cruz and a resident of Felton.
