County of Los Angeles Public Library Biennial Report 1992 - 1994

              A Most Inventive Tlme!
iEnniaf
County qf Los Angeles Public Library
Ju/y 1992-June 1994
7 1/----~--~---~-­~
/
Gloria Molina
Supervisor 1st District
Gloria Molina
Supervisor 1 st District
Kenneth Hahn
Supervisor 2nd District
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
Supervisor 2nd District
Edmund D. Edelman
Supervisor 3rd District
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
Supervisor 2nd District
Elected in December 1 992
Edmund D. Edelman
Supervisor 3rd Distnct
Deane Dana
Supervisor 4th District
Deane Dana
Supervisor 4th Distnct
Michael D. Antonovich
Supervisor 5th District
Michael D. Antoncvich
Supervisor 5th District
1992-93 Board
1993-94 Board
PRESENT BOARD-1994-95
l-R Supe1Yisors:
Michael D. Antonovich, 5th District;
Zev Yaroslavsky, 3rd District;
Gloria Molina, !st District, Chair;
Yvonne Brathwaite Bwke, 2nd Distn"ct;
Deane Dana, 4th Distnct
With regard to financing, the past two years have
been among the most historic in the County of Los
Angeles Public Library's 82-year history. Business
indicators held remarkably strong despite an abrupt,
unavoidable, and permanent shift of half of the
Library's primary source of revenue, the property tax,
by the state of California. The staff's strong customer
focus and dedication to provision of library service
provided the magic ingredients that assured
business viability. Everyone pulled together to
provide the best service within very challenging
circumstances. Service hours were reduced in over
half of the 87 libraries to 14 hours per week, no
~--Ls/
Library budget was available for purchase of
materials, and there was layoff of over 300 staff
members which, when combined with attrition, left
hundreds of positions vacant.
When legislative efforts failed to provide benefit
assessment authority for financing libraries, we
scrambled to find another option to provide ongoing,
replacement revenue in the magnitude of $30 million
annually .... a very tough challenge within California's
very limited statutory authority. We succeeded,
despite an impossibly short, tight time frame, in
establishing a community facilities district.
Additionally, one-time income from grants and
donations was increased by 211 %. The Board of
Supervisors, staff, volunteers. Local 660, customers,
Foundation, press and media, 52 cities served. and
61 Friends of the Library groups all pulled together.
Fund-raising initiatives, such as County Libraries are
Worth It to keep doors from closing and Count Me In
to backfill materials budgets, stirred thousands of
people to come forward to help the Library.
Aggressive grant seeking paid off and kept
programs, such as literacy, from closing. Fee-based
services such as Audio Express and FYI fortunately
had strong enough years to keep them viable.
Inventiveness, surpassing even the normally high
levels in this Library, realigned the way we did
business. Ten libraries were closed permanently to
save ongoing rent. to provide one-time income from
the sale of three, and to consolidate resource
strength in the remaining libraries. A product, Good
Reads, was launched for sale in the private sector to
produce income . Several services were
consolidated. Staff worked at multiple libraries each
week to assure that all areas retained service hours.
And all this was accomplished despite drastic loss of
the normal workforce and several major natural
disasters including the Northridge Earthquake.
In a time when the hot management book of the year
was "Reinventing Government" (by David Osborne
and Ted Gaebler). the County Library was
reinvented. Soaring creativity and determination to
serve equipped the County staff to overcome very
tough circumstances.
Sandra F. Reuben,
County Librarian
Revenue
1992/93 1993/94 CHANGE
Requirements
SALARIES & EMPLOYEE BENEFITS $36,589,000 $31,580,000 (5,009,000)
SERVICES & SUPPLIES 23,800,000 14,648,000 (9,152,000)
OTHER CHARGES 3,734,000 1,850,000 (1,884,000)
FIXED ASSETS
Fund Balance
16.2% EQUIPMENT 21,000 257,000 236,000
Cancel Resen,es
STRUCTURES 2,568,000 1,100,000 (1,468,000) 0.4%
OTHER FINANCING USES 90,000 90,000 0
GENERAL RESERVES 11,000 0 (11,000)
RESERVE EOillTY TRANSFER 400,000 0 (400,000)
Property Taxes
APPROPRIATION FOR CONTINGENCY 1,793,000 5,158,000 3,365,000
TOT AL REOillREMENTS 69,006,000 54,683,000 (14,323,000)
Available Finance
FUND BALANCE / $4,815,000 $8,854,000 4,039,000
REVENUE 8,541,000 15,682,000
Revenue
7,141,000 28.7%
CANCEL RESERVES 525,000 204,000 (321,000)
PROPERTY TAXES 25,733,000 29,943,000 4,210,000
AUGMENTATION FUNDS 29,392,000 0 (29,392,000)
TOT AL AVAILABLE FUNDS: 69,006,000 54,683,000 (14,323,000)
BUDGETED POSITIONS: 860.0 6682 (191.8)
The Malibu Wik!fire
November 2-5, 1993
"l am inside the
Malibu Library
sending this e-mail
to you. 1 did not see
any damage inside or
outside the building ...
lots of dust on the
floor but there doesn·t
seem to be damage
to the collection.
The smell is terrible.
There must be hundreds
of fire trucks parked
around the Civic Center
and firemen are resting
on the front lawn.
Thank you signs are
hanging on the
homes which are
still standing."
Evelyn MacMorres.
Regional Administrator
1992 Aftermath qf
Los Angeles Civil Unrest
A healing process was necessary after
the civil unrest of April 29, 1992. Though
the 36 riot-closed libraries were quickly re­opened,
staff and public emotions took longer to
resolve. The County Library positioned quickly
around ways to gear up to make a difference in the
healing process ..... literacy, homework help centers,
career information, intracultural centers, and cultural
awareness training for the entire staff.
Ameni:ans spend
mneilimes as
much"iJnlwme
vi+ogames
($1f6 bz1lion)
414Stheydo
pnschool
library
1993 Wiklfire
/ ~I \
I
On November 2-3, 1993, the Malibu
Library, threatened when the
devastating fire came within yards of
the civic center building. remained intact.
Staff, evacuated much earlier in the day, were
safe. Though we did not have fire damage, this
library was very smoky, requiring a
thorough cleaning before opening.
The County of Los Angeles Public Library is a special
fund department of the County of Los Angeles.
Because it does not provide service to all of the
County of Los Angeles, it has not normally received
annual funding as part of the Board of Supervisors'
budget from the County's General Fund. Neither
does the Library receive ongoing financing from any
of the 52 cities served. Rather, the County Library is
financed primarily by a dedicated share of all
property taxes collected within its 3,000 square mile
service area. Monies thus collected may only be
spent for the provision of library services by the
County of Los Angeles Public Library.
Between 1992 and 1994, the County of Los Angeles
Library experienced its most challenging revenue
losses than at any time in its 82-year history. The
State of California permanently shifted half, or $30
million annually, from the County Library's budget.
Primarily this came as the result of the State
abolishing the Special District Augmentation Fund, a
financing mechanism which had been put in place in
1979 following Proposition 13 to help the State's
reeling special districts.
Credit for keeping service remarkably strong, despite
severe cuts in hours and materials, goes to the
creative staff of the County of Los Angeles Public
Library. They worked several locations, created
increasingly cost-effective ways to deliver service,
and worked on fund-raising and legislative efforts.
Hats off to a caring, committed staff!
Budget Perspective
In 1992-1993
We managed the very difficult tasks necessary to
assure that we were not only able to manage and
make ends meet in 1992-93, the beginning of major
property tax shifts from local government to the State
of California, but we also positioned to brace for what
proved to be a drastically worsening scenario in
1994-95. Aiming to increase annual revenue while
streamlining workloads, a staff committee composed
and the Board of Supervisors approved adjustments
in various fees charged by the Library. There were
significant reductions in the materials budget, belt
tightening in across-the-board expenditures
including contracts, balancing of service hours
reductions to assure the greatest customer access,
and closure of 10 libraries. Staff and supporters felt
the power in pulling together for a common
purpose .... namely the survival of library service in our
County.
In 1993-94
Following a permanent annual property tax shift of
$30 million - 50% of the Library's revenue-to the
State of California, there was continual effort to
locate a source or sources of replacement annual
revenue. The County Board of Supervisors had very
few options available to provide annual replacement
for the lost $30 million. Aggressive legislative efforts
were made which would have put in place the
statutory authority for local library governing boards
to use benefit assessments to finance libraries.
Unfortunately, for the second legislative session in a
row, the Governor vetoed the bill. Concentrated
effort kept all 87 remaining facilities open, though
over half were open only 14 hours each week The
entire materials budget, normally $8 million, was
eliminated in order to meet payroll Instead, grants
and fund-raising drives were used to attract one­time
financing for purchase of materials. These
efforts succeeded in amassing $803,000, allowing us
to continue periodical subscriptions and purchase
key titles. Especially inventive was a concept to
approach professional associations having annual
conferences in Los Angeles. From these
conventions, we were successful in attracting
donations of exhibit books, new publications, valued
at over $500,000.
When it became apparent that the benefit
assessment legislation was unlikely to be enacted
into law, staff turned to County Counsel to comb
existing law to see what financing possibilities, if
any, existed beyond those which required a 2/3 vote.
The Board decided to use a mechanism known as a
Community Facilities District (CFD) which, following
a public hearing, they put in place on August 30,
1994. Sixteen of our 52 cities informed the Board of
Supervisors that they wished to be included in the
financing district. The CFD would improve service ~t
over half of the 87 county libraries and would bnng m
nearly $16 million in new, ongoing revenue. It was
anticipated that additional cities would join the CFD
in future years, allowing their city councils mor~ ~ime
than available this year to make then dec1s10n
Several cities which did not opt to join the CFD this
time around, did pledge grants totalling $1.5 million
to augment the service hours affordable through then
share of remaining property tax dollars.
Postscript: In October, 1994, when unusual mid­year
County budget deliberations were scheduled
following news that the County's year-end figures
showed more revenue than had been anticipated, the
Board re-considered the CFD. The fee structure,
which had been anchored at $28.50 per year per
single family residence, was reduced to zero.
Instead, the Board granted one-time dollars, some
from the General Fund reserve and some from
increasing General Fund revenue estimates,
amounting to $22.5 million to enable returning all
County Libraries to full service for the duration of
1994-95. The CFD mechanism was left in place
should the Board wish to utilize it in future years.
Together with $500,000 which the Board had
allocated for materials earlier in the year, the General
Fund allocation in 1994-95 amounted to $23 million
- an approach to backfilling the $30 million lost.
Legi.slative Front . .
In 1992-93, the County Library's primary leg1slat1ve
focus to provide libraries with replacement ongoing
funds sufficient to replace those lost in the State tax
shift was on Senate Bill 566, introduced by Senator
David Roberti. Los Angeles County co-sponsored
this important bill with the California Library
Association. SB 566 authorized a local agency, such
as a city or county, to use benefit assessment
financing for library services. Following an intensive
statewide effort to support this legislation, it was
passed by both the Senate and the Assembly, but
vetoed by Governor Wilson in October, 1993. After
making key changes intended to address the
Governor's concerns, Senator Roberti reintroduced
the bill in February, 1994 as SB 1448. This bill was
also approved by both the Senate and Assembly, but
vetoed by the Governor in September, 1994.
Other important legislation supported by the County
Library included Senate Bill 1648 (Dills). This bill
protected property tax funded libraries from future
losses resulting from state property tax shifts, and
was signed into law by the Governor in 1994. Also
signed was SB 544, a bill which adjusted local match
for Public Library Funds to mirror the loss
experienced by a library in the recent tax shift
Thanks to this law, the County Library contmued to
qualify for annual state monies of about $700,000.
Other attempts to provide statewide financial rellef
for libraries, such as SB 1666 (Mello), were not
successful. However, there was a high visibility of
library-related bills in Sacramento and extensive
support by library and community groups dunng the
previous two year legislative session.
County ef Los Angeles Public Library
1992-93 1993-94
Size - Square Miles 3,066 3,062 Contin~ency
Total Budget 69,006,000 54,683,000 10 0
Population Served 3,206,370 3,320,330 Fixed Assets 2%
Annual Circulation 15,874,726 11,510,319 Other Charges 3%
In-Library Use of Materials 5,842,234 4,236,000
Registered Borrowers 1.431, 195 1,583,939
Reference Questions 8,803,454 6,476,192
Staff Full & Part Time 1.787 1,170 Salaries & Benefits
Volunteers 2,341 716 58%
Friends of the Library Groups 60 62
Service Fadlities
Regional & Community Libraries 84 84
Institutional Libraries 1 1
Bookmobiles 3 3
Literacy Centers 13 14
Gifts
Friends of the Libraries $ 251,186 $ 358,516
SeNices & Supplies
Cities 212,219 202,127 27%
County Library Foundation 79,887 79,095
Organizations 37,912 672,948
Individuals 274,384 396,879
Total Gifts $ 855,588 $1,679,565
SERVICE MILESTONES
With the substantial revenue loss incurred by the
Library and as follow-through to edge into resource
allocation standards recommended by the Equity
Study of 1992 and the Financial Study of 1991. it was
clear that our Library needed to reposition its
remaining resources. In order to serve large
populations in newly developing areas, we needed to
establish service points. With lowered book budgets,
a mix of new materials and collection shifted from
other county libraries filled the new shelves.
Existing staff transferred from other areas to cover
new services. As example, the existing bookmobile
service ceased in Westlake Village and in the Lake
Los Angeles areas with the budget shifting to
operation of the new libraries.
Hacienda Heights Re-opened
A festive ceremony on August 29, 1992, marked the
re-opening of the refurbished Hacienda Heights
Library. Following a formal program in which
Supervisor Dana recognized the contributions of the
active Friends of the Library group, customer­oriented
staff, and community activists, the curious
community poured into the "new" library. The
bright, white paint, new carpet, and newly
constructed and positioned reference and circulation
desks made the same 10,000 square feet seem much
more spacious.
Lake Los Angeles Library Opened
The Lake Los Angeles Library, was dedicated on
May 30, 1992. This leased facility replaced the High
Desert Mobilibrary which the community had
outgrown and at the same time helped establish
equitable service to this unincorporated community
in the Antelope Valley On the first day open, which
preceded the dedication date, 185 individuals
registered for library cards. The staff was happily
registering people at the rate of 50 per hour! First
week circulation exceeded 3,500.
Westlake Village Library Dedicated
Hundreds attended the dedication of the Westlake
Village Library despite chilly weather and
threatening clouds on March 27, 1993. Over 200
people were registered and 693 books were
circulated within the opening hours. The 6,000 sq. ft.
space was creatively designed to give a feeling of
spaciousness. The glass-partitioned children's area
was given quite a workout and was swarming with
children for the duration of the day. They seemed to
move right into the specially designed Birdfish
chairs .... stuffed interlocking parts which become
different shapes for seating.
DID YOU KNOW:
Public libran·es receive less than 1
percent ef all tax dollars and are
1
used by more than 50 percent ef
the population. ,__ _____ _
Lake Los Angeles on opening day
Lancaster Library Construction Financing
Our hopes for the very necessary expansion of the
Lancaster Regional Library, dashed when Proposition
85 funds were not awarded, soared again. The City
of Lancaster and the County of Los Angeles forged
an agreement in which several county services,
including the library, received capital funds through
an expansion of Lancaster's Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and through the city
floating necessary bonds.
On October 20, 1993, community leaders, Library
staff, and school students met at the future site of the
new Lancaster Library. Following remarks by city
officials and the County Librarian, attendees were
treated to the unveiling of the building's architectural
model. This Library, expected to be two years in
construction, should be ready to open just as we
emerge with realigned financial strength.
New Names
In January, 1994,the Maywood Library was renamed
the Maywood Cesar Chavez Library to honor the late
Cesar Chavez, crusader for peace and justice for the
California farm worker.
The HIV Information Center, located at the West
Hollywood Library, was renamed to honor the
memory of Ron Shipton, who initiated the idea for
the HIV center. His aim was to make everyone more
knowledgeable about HIV and AIDS. The HIV
Information Center is now known as the Ron Shipton
HN Information Center.
End qf an Erafor Institutional Services
In July, 1993, two long-serving libraries quietly
closed their doors due to budget cuts of other
County departments. The patient library at Rancho
Los Amigos Hospital was a budget trim made by the
Health Services Department. The library at Camp
Barley Flats, located at a Probation camp site, also
closed at the request of the Probation Department.
We now have no service to the Health Services
Department and will basically serve in the Probation
Department from Central Juvenile Hall, Camp Miller,
and from the Challenger Memorial Youth Facility.
Change for CHIPS
Effective September 10, 1993, CHIPS (Consumer
Health Information, Programs, and Services) ceased
offering its tel-med and tel-law service. The
equipment necessary to play informational tapes in
response to telephone requests was beyond repair.
Budget did not exist to replace the equipment.
While it was unfortunate that we had to eliminate
the telephone audio tape service, all other services
of CHIPS still functioned.
COST EFFECTIVENESS SOARS
Staff committees, known as Can Do Crews, formed
as a means to plan quickly for improved and
increasingly cost effective service and operations.
Excellent innovations resulted such as ..... Count Me
in Campaign for fund-raising, better revenue
generation from traditional fee structure,
streamlining of the CALL information and referral
service, and an equitable charging schedule for
requests.
With the downsizing of staff, it was imperative that
remaining resources be redeployed wisely to assure
customer service. A great deal of thinking preceded
the following decisions which were made for long­term
service strength:
■ JTJfonnation Centers' Collaboration Reduces
Cost While Strengthening Service
FYI, Municipal Reference, and the Business Subject
Specialty Service were merged into one unit located
in the Nor walk Library building. This move
consolidated similar and related services while
providing more clarity of access for customers.
■ Automated Circulation StqffTraining
Staff faced new roles due to transfers and
redeployment. Many needed to hone skills on the
automated circulation system. The ACS training unit
presented 41 classes to 419 staff to assure that they
possessed excellent customer service skills.
■ Community Access Library (CALL) Line
Re-invented
Though CALL was forced to cut expenditures by
discontinuing its telephone service in August, 1993,
the valuable database was maintained. The CALL
office moved to Library Headquarters. This and the
move of Municipal Reference allowed us to vacate
and prepare for sale the Holly Park building. This
also was a beginning step for making the CALL
database of community information available at all
Library locations through the automated circulation
system.
■ Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)
Though the Library's shift from our overloaded
compact disc catalog to an OPAC was delayed by
lack of budget, staff refused to give up. They
managed to establish, between December and
March, 1994, pilot OPAC service in Calabasas,
Westlake Village, Masao Satow (unincorporated area
11
near Gardena). Bell Gardens. George Nye (in
Lakewood}, and La Verne Libraries using available
computers from closed libraries and terminals
purchased with city funds. Modest cabling and
installation charges were incurred. The new online
catalog has up-to-the-minute information about the
over 6 million items in the Library's collections. and
whether or not the items are available for use or
charged out to other customers. Author, title,
subject and keyword searching are also available for
all current holdings of the Library. Other databases.
such as information on community organizations and
periodical indexes, are planned to gradually become
available on the online catalog.
Additionally, plans proceeded to shift 31 additional
libraries to the OPAC thanks to availability of
computers through an Internet grant through the
State Library and by successfully receiving a County
Productivity Investment Fund grant to convert our
eight largest libraries.
■ Realignment in Government Publications
Services
In October, 1993, the U.S. Government Printing
Office authorized the disbanding of three of the
County Library's eleven Government
Depositories .... at the Gardena, Compton, and
Huntington Park Libraries. These libraries, like
others, have government publications as part of their
collections but are no longer "designated" centers.
Designated depositories continued to operate at the
Lancaster, Valencia, Carson, Culver City, Norwalk,
Iacoboni, Montebello and West Covina Libraries.
■ Literacy Line Available Again Through
creative Partnering
One of the downsides of CALL phone service being
discontinued was the dilemma of how to handle the
Southern California Literacy Information Line, which
held responsibility for helping multiple libraries
match literacy students with tutors. Creative
partnerships solved the problem. On International
Literacy Day, September 8, 1994, a new phone
service began to give information about literacy
learning centers and to match students with tutors.
The NEW Literacy Line is a bilingual literacy referral
service co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and
the County of Los Angeles Public Library. The Times
provided computer equipment and programming, the
toll-free phone line, start-up costs and promotion.
The County of Los Angeles Public Library will
maintain and update the database of more than 700
literacy programs in Southern California.
■ Centralized Billing Functions Reduced Cost
While Improving Service
The automated circulation system staff corrected
borrower addresses to diminish the number of
returned bills for overdue charges. Of the 585,800
request and overdue notices mailed in 1992-93,
29,500 were returned to us by the Post Office with
forwarding addresses or other problems. The
increased accuracy of records "pays" us in smooth
operation of billings, too.
Front line staff was freed from hours of processing
overdue correspondence and recordkeeping when
the functions were shifted to AutoCAP, the
centralized fee collection account at Library
Headquarters. Two staff members handled nearly
4,500 accounts. AutoCAP reduced time spent on
each account from 70 minutes to 9 minutes. It
reduced our cost per account from $18.43 to $4.43
and freed front line staff for more availability with the
public.
Literacy centers match students with tutors
<~-- ~ ---
FISCAL YEAR
OPERATING BUDGET
(EXCLUDES DELINQUENCY RESERVES)
OPERA TING REVENUE*
OPERA TING TRANSFER
FUND BALANCE I CANCEL
TOTAL
MATERIALS EXPENDITURES
&BUDGET
CAPITAL PROJECTS
BUDGET
MATERIAL CIRCULATION
REFERENCE QUESTIONS
REGISTERED BORROWERS
*Includes propeny truces and augmentation fund
. I .,_J.
89/90
$62.400,000
$54,490,000
0
7,868,000
$62,358,000
$ 7,700,000
$1,600,000
11,000,000
9,000,000
470,000
90/91
$66,300,000
$60,931,000
0
5,405,000
$66,336,000
$10,000,000
$ 603,000
13,600,000
7,300,000
875,000
91/92
$67,500,000
$64,546,000
0
2,976,000
$67,522,000
$ 9,000,000
$ 133,000
16,100,000
7,900,000
1,200,000
92/93
$66,400,000
$60,228,000
1,000,000
5,199,000
$66,427,000
$ 2,100,000
$ 2,968,000
15,900,000
8,800,000
1,431,000
93/94
$53,600,000
$35,937,000
8,992,000
8,654,000
$53,583,000
$ 2,300.000
$ 1,299,000
11,500,000
6,500,000
1,584,000
INNOVATION KITCHEN KEPT BUSY
The County Library staff is known for its
inventiveness. Never before have so many ideas
been implemented as were during this most
challenging time period. A tenacious staff battled to
realign to sustain the maximum public service
possible. Beneficial partnerships with private firms
and organizations were key to keeping service
strong. Among the accomplishments of which we
are most proud are the following:
■ Good Reads
The Good Reads database improved service and
created a much-needed ongoing revenue stream.
Following months of creative work. Phyllis Young,
Collection Coordinator. with Steve Cohen from the
County's Purchasing and Central Services Branch,
developed a means for national sales of the Good
Reads database, an excellent computer service to
help recreational readers find their next good book to
read. A partnership with private sector company,
Retro Link Associates. established a needed service
in addition to providing our Library with a source of
ongoing funds. Retro Link will manufacture in
various formats the Good Reads readers advisory
database, invented by "our own" Harriet Traeger,
and will market same to libraries and book stores. In
addition to a lump sum payment of $50,000 to the
Library, we will receive ongoing royalties of 10% of
sales. a tape load to mount on our automated
circulation system, and hardware for 24 public access
service stations over three years.
■ FYI and the American Library
Association
In 1993, the Library received recognition and a
beautiful plaque for the successful efforts of FYI to
partner with the American Library Association to
boost marketing and sales of the new edition of the
FISCAL Directory. These were the words used to
describe our program: "This long-term agreement to
co-publish the FISCAL Directory of Fee-Based
Information Services in Libraries enables the County
Library to utilize the publishing, marketing, and
fulfillment capabilities of one of the foremost
publishers in the library field to sell a great number of
directories at a greater net revenue which
approached $30,000." The cooperative effort also
saved the County Library approximately $35,000 in
up-front marketing and distribution costs.
■ Audio Express in Marathon Ii/fort Attract
Business
Audio Express, the Library's fee-based audio books
by mail, received a couple of boosts: Modern
Maturity ran an article about the service after which
500 plus new applicants requested information about
the service. Efforts were successful in partnering
with the rapid transit companies of the area. The
commuter trains ran ads for Audio Express, hoping to
give a "value added" service to riders. Audio Express
also had a successful (and free) booth at the L.A.
Marathon. They spread word of Audio Express to
about 2,000 individuals in the course of the day.
■ Telebusiness Center
The Library was one of several County agencies
participating in a pilot Antelope Valley telebusiness
center. Located in Lancaster, the Center aimed to
eliminate lengthy commutes by linking the workers
with their employers by telephone, computer and fax
machines. The Library's contributions include an on­site
compact disc catalog with instructions on how
to link with local libraries to secure information,
information about the fee-based reference services of
FYI and Municipal Reference, and information about
Audio Express. as we feel that these are people who
will occasionally have long commutes.
■ DISC Improved through Productivity
Investment Fund Monies
Document Information Service Center (DISC) was a
new step in our attempt to establish a center for
shared electronically-accessible services. The
compact disc-based periodicals resource cost
$50,000 and certainly was a cost-effective means to
fill in the existing gaps in the budget-strapped
magazine subscriptions. The County's Productivity
Investment Fund, a source of venture capital to
departments, provided additional loan financing of
$14,850 to increase the power of the service. This
front edge inventiveness between University
Microforms Incorporated and the Library occurred
well before such services became available online.
The service remains in place, serving County libraries
without the expense of on-line charges
■ Starring Library Kids
The 1992-93 Children's' Reading Program, Starring
Library Kids, was tribute to the resourcefulness of
Youth Services staff.
Thanks to donations from 51 of our 62 Friends of the
Library groups, $6,390 was raised for the 1993-94
Children's Reading Program. Though the funds are
by no means the normal level of financing for this
program, it enabled a bare bones program. Our long
tradition of providing this program to children did not
have a hiatus.
A Sampling: County Library Has Stqff Qf
Exemplary Accomplishment
■ Penny Markey, Youth Services Coordinator, was
chosen as one of 23 outstanding librarians who serve
children in the United States to help on a
national project to strengthen parents'
efforts in promoting family literacy. She
will work primarily with the Center for the
Book as one of their appointees. The
project, sponsored mutually by the Library
of Congress Center for the Book and the U.S.
Department of Education. Department
of Health and Human Services,
produced a resource training
package to guide Head Start
agencies to use libraries to
promote family literacy.
Penny Markey also was
awarded a very ,,.,...--...
prestigious ½t;-.~~ :..:=.;_~=-=.===:;;:::::::=­honoras
one of
ten chosen for
the Children
Now 1993 Honor Roll.
Children Now is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy and
advocacy organization that acts as a strong and
1 b The County Public Library believes in "Begi
)
J
independent voice for the millions of children who
cannot speak for themselves in the legislature, in the
media, and in the community. She received
her "Oscar" .. .. a beautiful gold star
encased in a larger lucite gold
star.. .. at a ceremony on June 30
at the Carthay Center School in
Los Angeles.
■ Steve Coffman ,
-.. FYI/BSSC/Muni Director, was
''-_ featured in a chapter of a 1993
'',,_ book, "Secrets of the Super
i, Searchers."
\
, \ ■ Mary Helen
·, Espinoza, a Baldwin
Park New Reader
and V I S T A
volunteer for our
Lite racy
program, was
featured on
/ KABC City View,
~ which won an Emmy.
Mary Helen was one of eleven
New Readers chosen nationally to attend "Wordless
America," the Coors Media Event in New York City.
As their guest, she and the other New Readers were
able to speak with the media and business leaders
about their views on literacy in America.
■ The Chicano Resource Center was front page news
February 11, 1993. We read with pride an excellent
column of Nuestro Tiempo in the ~ Angeles Times
about Luis Pedroza, Director of the Chicano Resource
Center. Luis described himself as, " .... a new breed
librarian who is committed to changing the library to
reflect changes in the community around it."
■ Staff of Begin at the Beginning With Books received
a 1993 Department of Health Services Director's
Award at that department's "Being the Best Awards
Ceremony." Begin at the Beginning With Books was
also the recipient of a Health Services Improvement
Program, a marketing award, and was among the
many projects depicted as part of that department's
marketing slide presentation.
■ County Librarian Sandra Reuben was one of five
who were honored by PEN Center USA West on
December 5, 1993, at the Bradbury Building in Los
Angeles. She received a "Freedom to Write" Award
for taking seriously her "responsibilities to safeguard
access to expression and information despite an array
of assaults that ranged from destruction by fire to
predatory attempts to cut already-dry budgets."
OUTSIDE FUNDS SUSTAINED SERVICE
Fund-raising and grant seeking qforts
reached an all time high in the County
Library.
Materials sustained through donations
When the materials budget was reduced first by 60%
(1992-93) and then eliminated entirely in 1993-94, the
Library added 233,350 volumes (39,623 titles) in 1992-
93 and 129,333 volumes (31,543 titles) in 1993-94. All
new books were added thanks to donations of the
actual books or dollars to buy same or through grant
funds. A sampling:
A sponsorship program , called You Can Make a
Difference, was formulated. It aimed to attract one­year
donations of substance to help "bridge" our
operations financing until that point in time when we
have dependable replacement revenue. This service
and budget summary provided a standardized, handy
resource for any to use when a potential sponsor
came along or when communities wanted to know
service costs.
1992-93
■ A proposal to the U.S. Department of Education
was successful with an award of $35,000 being
received by the Library. The money was used to
l ,; .
(_)
_.
libran'ans create ways to generate.funds
DID VOU KNOW-In
25years,JederalfandingJor libran'es
comes to less than the cost ef one
aircreft earner (est. $3.5 billion).
~tlt,11' llJ1I
LIBR \RIES t, DISTRESS
-
-
purchase materials in multiple Asian languages for
the Carson, El Monte, Las Virgenes, San Gabriel, and
Weingart (in Lakewood.) Libraries.
■ Though we serve a population of over 3 million, the
County of Los Angeles Public Library has never been
able to qualify for Major Urban Resource Library
Funds. Why? Because these grants are only
available to cities which have reached a population of
100,000 or more and have gone through a procedure
of certification for same. But, we finally reached that
milestone in two locations ..... Santa Clarita and El
Monte. As a result, we received a MURL grant for
$19,341 for collection development in both cities. We
proposed to the State Library our plan for using these
funds in a way that deepens the resources for the
area.
■ $125,000 to the County Library of Library Services
and Construction Act money enhanced library
collections for children.
■ The Library Foundation provided the $6,300 we
needed to print the Count Me In campaign, which
gave people a way to donate money to restore our
materials budget. The campaign built on the reality
that the 87-branch County of Los Angeles Public
Library has ONE collection for the people within the
Library's service boundaries. Though various items
are housed at a given time at a given location, they
can be used and do move among all of our locations
as needed by our customers. Count Me In assured
that we could purchase some necessary reference
and non-fiction titles which are not able to be
purchased by individual Friends of the Library
groups.
■ The County's Internal Services Department's
technical library had a book sale and donated the
proceeds of the sale to the Count Me In campaign of
the Library Foundation. This was in addition to their
previous donation of $250 to Count Me In!
■ Collection Development, building on a concept of
West Covina Community Library Manager Linda
Siggins, produced the complement to Count Me In,
the aim of which was to raise materials "dollars."
The "Library's Most Wanted List" posters allowed
people to donate actual books which the local library
says they need. We received donations of books and
materials valued at nearly $44,072 between April and
September, 1993. Though this is nowhere near our
usual expenditure for materials for an equivalent
period of time, these gifts have enhanced our ability
to deliver service.
■ An anonymous gift of 500 shares of Oracle stock
was received by the Foundation. With proceeds from
the stock sale reaching $17,000, computer related
materials were purchased, per the donor's request,
for the West Hollywood Library. Since the County
Library has "one unified collection," these books are
available on request at any other community library.
■ A chapter of the American Association of
University Women (AAUW) donated $2,500 to
purchase children's books for girls and young women
on women's equity and for biographical books in
which women serve as role models.
■ The Lions Club of Taiwan (!) donated 1,200 new
Chinese books valued at over $6,000 to the Hacienda
Heights Library.
■ The Marina Library received a large gift of nautical
videotapes from Bennett Marine, a local business.
Also, the Marina Foundation provided approximately
$500 and purchased several key subscriptions for the
Marina Library.
■ Various publishers donated their exhibit materials
at the close of the ALA Midwinter Conference to the
County of Los Angeles Public Library. How nice to
see 150-200 boxes of 3,000 books and materials on
the Convention Center loading dock addressed to our
Library! Value was set at $90,000.
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DID YOU KNOW·
ff the cost if gas had nsen asJast as
academic library matenals (in the last 15
years), it would now cost $2.66 a gallon to
put.fuel in y our car.
■ The Best Books, a used bookstore in Lancaster,
donated 10% of its February sales to the Lancaster
Library. This is the second year this bookstore has
made such contributions. Last year, the program
brought so many people into the store that the
owners were forced to moved to a larger location!
■ The family of the late children's author Charles
Coombs asked that his memory be earned forward by
donations to the Westlake Village Library.
■ A donation of 189 adult books from Hispanic Books
Distributors, Inc, was received. Also, the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute donated 100
copies of the 1993-94 National Directory of Hispanic
Organizations.
■ The Malibu Library received the equivalent of an
eighth of an estate, or $239,000.
■ A Library Services and Construction Act grant of
$20,000 was awarded to provide Service to
Immigrants of Asian Descent. Funds developed
Asian language collections at the Masao W. Satow
Library, the Rowland Heights Library, the San Gabriel
Library, and the Sunkist Library.
■ All library locations collected proofs of purchase for
Motts products to help the Library. In a cooperative
effort with Friends of the Library groups nationally,
Motts provided new books and materials to libraries
in exchange for proofs of purchase of its apple juice
and apple sauce.
■ Building on an idea piloted by the Las Virgenes
Friends of the Library and staff, Collection
Development produced a set of flyers and forms for
use at all libraries to mount a campaign for gift
subscriptions of periodicals. The kit included a
general poster intended to be placed in prominent
places in each library, thank you receipts to give to
donors and whose duplicates serve as the order form
for each subscription, and flyers to place in the
periodicals area to attract gifts from periodical users.
The Librarywide appeal for donations of magazines
was a success: 672 magazine subscriptions were
donated at a value of $16,611.
■ L.A. Parent sponsored a paperback book drive for
the County Library. To be eligible to win a Jamaica
trip, readers donated a new or slightly used
paperback to any County Library and turned in an
entry fonn available at that library.
■ Valencia Library Youth Services held a book
shower. Parents purchased more than a dozen books
valued at over $130, which they brought to the
program
Coun(Y Libran·es are Worth it T-Shirt
1993-94
■ Count Me In Campaign focused Friends of the
Library groups, the Los Angeles County Library
Foundation, and staff in a determined effort to raise
money for materials. So far, the Count Me In
Campaign has collected $19,530. In another
component of the Count Me In, posters of The
Library's Most Wanted List campaign brought in
gifts of targeted books needed in each library.
■ Sony Studios gave 97 videos to the Culver City
Library.
■ Forty of our libraries received copies of "Hooked
on Phonics," thanks to a donation valued at $8,000.
■ The Daily News offered the review copies they
receive to be split between the County Library and
Los Angeles Public Library
■ Outside funding also made available 19,900 copies
of the League of Women Voters November election
pamphlet.
■ Resource Directory provided 80 copies of the 1992
■ Bridge Publications produced "readers' theater"
programs at the Culver City and Norwalk Libraries.
Good sized audiences were attracted. Donations
raised at the programs total over $2,000, a sum which
will benefit the Library's literacy program. Books
were also donated, bringing the total benefit to our
Library to about $5,000.
■ The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation allocated $1,000 to
the County Library to fund multicultural storytelling
programs featuring the wonderfully talented
storyteller, Milbre Burch.
■ ZEPHYR, a fourteen voice choral group and KIN, a
modem dance ensemble, donated their considerable
talents to perform a benefit on behalf of Children's
Services of the County of Los Angeles Public Library
Bonnie Grice, KUSC radio personality, was host and
narrator for the afternoon which included a variety of
poetry, a medley of "cat" songs, nonsense songs,
selections from "Alice in Wonderland," and a
hilarious musical rendition of "The Emperor's New
Clothes." The benefit event raised nearly $2,000 to
benefit children's programs.
Los Angeles Resource Directory and 20 copies of the ■ Funding of $5,000 each (that's $10,000 total)
Orange County Edition. established two additional Grandparents and Books
sites: Baldwin Park and Rowland Heights.
■ Rose Olivas, Executive Secretary, baked her
fabulous roast turkey cakes. This raffle raised $125.
for the Count Me In (materials) Fund.
■ UNISYS Corporation donated over 100 copies of
"Success Guide: The Guide to Black Resources."
Supervisor Burke and Sandra Reuben were on hand
January 31 to receive these books from Bill Patton,
President of UNISYS/U.S. Division, and George Fraser,
President/Founder of the Success Guide. UNISYS
later gave the A C Bilbrew Library a replacement CD
drive computer. which had been stolen from the
Homework Center.
■ McDonnell Douglas awarded the Friends of the
George Nye, Jr. and Angelo M. Iacoboni Libraries
(both in Lakewood) $5,000 to enable purchase of
student-related materials.
■ A grant to Aman from the Mervyns/Target Stores
enabled educational and entertaining children's
programs which will continue at eight library sites.
■ A $10,000 Library Services and Construction Act
grant secured materials to help acclimate immigrant
populations in Bell Gardens and Lynwood.
■ The board of the County Productivity Investment
Fund (PIF) helped substantially by:
• granting of $41,627 to establish a
homework center at the Woodcrest Library.
• granting of $10,000 for the Library
Affirmative Action Committee proposal which will
enable an excellent staff training package on the
topic of Human Diversity
• loaning $14,850 to expand DISC, the
imaged data base of magazine articles. This
centralized service gives speedier customer response
and avoids costly over-purchase of duplicate
magazine subscriptions.
• another loan of $76,000 financed purchase
of two self check-out equipment units which were
placed at the Culver City and West Covina Libraries,
the libraries having the most check-out transactions
per hour.
• a grant of $70,000 enhanced the
effectiveness of the Children's Reading Program.
• a grant of $227,952 enabled shifting from
an overloaded CD Rom catalog to an on-line public
catalog in our eight largest libraries.
■ The Friends of the San Dimas Library committed
$5,000 for the ongoing purchase of audio-visual
materials.
■ A grant of $500,000 of Library Services and
Construction Act Funds was a great infusion for
purchase of books for use in reference services in a
year when the book budget was zero. Later in the
year, the State Library augmented our $500,000
"Reference and Information Resources Program"
grant with an additional $69,560, which was
earmarked to purchase books for youth.
■ The State Library granted 23 Internet public access
computer stations. Bundling the value of training,
equipment, and access, this is a grant valued at
around $230,000. Sites include A C Bilbrew (in South
Central LA), Angelo M. Iacoboni (in Lakewood),
Calabasas, Carson, Claremont, Culver City, Diamond
Bar, East Los Angeles, Gardena, Hacienda Heights
(in east part of the County), Hawthorne, Huntington
Park, La Canada Flintridge, Lancaster, Las Virgenes
(in Agoura Hills), Leland R. Weaver (in South Gate),
Montebello, Norwalk, Rosemead, Temple City,
Valencia (in Santa Clarita), West Covina, and West
Hollywood.
■ A grant of $60,000 of LSCA Title III monies to the
Library provided 1,500 new titles in Asian languages
in return for our staff performing a subcontractor role
for CLASS, a California library service provider. In
that role, we selected titles for Project ASIA which
will be added to the Statewide database residing on
OCLC.
■ The Los Angeles Public Library's Librarians' Guild
sent $50 contributions to help View Park and Carson
Libraries in our financial crisis. The Black Resource
Center also received a donation of approximately 630
books and two framed African American
topographical maps from the Los Angeles Public
Library, Vernon Branch/Leon H. Washington Jr.
Memorial Library.
■ The Claremont Community Foundation approved a
grant award to the Claremont Library for $2,000 to
assist in acquiring periodical subscriptions and new
reference books. This is an added bonus as the
Friends of the Claremont Library raised $8,000
toward matching the $10,000 grant from the Hafif
Family Foundation for materials.
■ $60,000 of Community Development Block Grant
money was awarded to the Library by the First
Supervisorial District to finance homework centers at
the East Los Angeles and City Terrace Libraries. The
project is called STAR, Studying, Tutoring, and
Reading.
■ The Lund Foundation gave $10,000 for the A C
Bilbrew Homework Center and the Black Resource
Center.
Grants and other outside.funds allowed 20-
year literacy program to survive budget cuts:
1992-93
■ California Families for Literacy Program - $30,000
of California Library Services Act funding continued
the family literacy programs at the Baldwin Park and
Quartz Hill Libraries and expanded the service to the
City Terrace and Paramount Libraries. Eligible
participants are adult literacy students who have
children under the age of five. The program provides
adults with skills for promoting reading in their
homes, thus breaking the cycle of illiteracy. Another
grant of $30,000 was received in 1993-94.
■ Begin at the Beginning with Books received
$158,482 of Federal Library Services and
Construction monies to conduct a second year of this
project, which encourages expectant mothefs to
begin the reading habit with their new babies. The
aim is to create a family environment which
encourages and supports the child's education. In
just a couple of years, the program has made a
difference to 4,300 families.
■ The Ahmanson Foundation granted $24,000 to
continue the program at the Huntington Park Library
and the San Antonio Health Clinic, and at the East
Los Angeles Library and the Roybal Comprehensive
Health Center.
■ An unsolicited donation of $5,000 was received for
the Begin at the Beginning With Books Project from a
"family" foundation.
■ $1,000 was received from SAFECO's Community
Involvement Program for use in purchasing children's
books for the family literacy packets. This was the
second time SAFECO has helped us out. This is an
award in recognition of our good track record with
our literacy program.
■ The East Los Angeles literacy project, in
conjunction with the Plaza Family Support Center,
helped families nurture reading thanks to a
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant
of $20,000 by Supervisor Molina to the Support
Center.
■ The City of Santa Clarita gave a CDBG of $2,750 to
enable our Library's literacy folks to work on a
literacy and English as a Second Language Program
in their community.
■ The State Library awarded our literacy program
$77,000 in matching funds this year. This figure is
based on $1.00 for each $4.62 the Library spends.
This compared to $51,000 received the prior year.
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II
1993-94
■ The Library Foundation conducted a direct mail
effort to raise funds for literacy. The mailing was
done at minimal cost so as to put the maximum
dollars into the program. Returns totalled $11,350.
■ The Begin at the Beginning With Books (BBB)
project was awarded $38,193 by the Productivity
Investment Fund. Though federal funding ceased on
September 30 for this project, this productivity grant
enabled us to keep the program going at the
following sites: Compton, Brakensiek in (Bellflower),
Norwalk, and Carson Libraries.
The Parsons Foundation also granted Begin at the
Beginning With Books $42,300.
■ The Rotary Club of Los Angeles granted the
Library Foundation $10,000 to finance a literacy
center at the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Youth
Activity League. The aim is to help youth in the
High 5 Project build self-esteem through literacy
skills.
■ Literacy staff and friends walked in the Human
Race Walkathon to raise funds for the purchase of
new literacy materials. On a day of record-breaking
heat, they walked in 1994 and raised $2,250. The
same walk in 1993 raised $975.
CITIES GRANTED MONEY TO IMPROVE
BASELINE HOURS AND TO BUY
MATERIALS.
1992-93
■ Manhattan Beach granted the Library the funds to
finance totally the operation of the Manhattan
Heights Library, which would have been closed
otherwise. This was nearly $200,000 and kept the
library open through June.
■ Lakewood provided funds to keep the Weingart
Library open one more month to see if community
fund raisers could sustain it longer.
■ The Marina del Rey Library, located in
unincorporated area, realized a great deal of grass
roots support aimed at raising the finances necessary
to open the library an additional day of service
beyond the current two days schedule. The Marina
Foundation, affiliated with the County Department of
Beaches and Harbors, sponsored a Mixer on
November 19 with the Marina Chamber of
Commerce to raise money for extending the days
open of the library. The evening was a great
success, with $2,000 raised to launch public
awareness related to the funding needs.
■ Malibu Friends of the Library is but one example of
the work of our 61 amazing Friends groups with their
cities. This group sent 6,000 letters to homes and
businesses in their city asking for monetary
donations. The result: response from 300 people who
sent a total of $17,000 to help their library.
1993-94
Cities pledged grants totalling $543,000 for additional
days of service following meetings initiated by
Library managers. The cost of each day of service
was computed for each location based on actual
direct costs and indirect costs. Days of service per
week were allocated using a formula to assure that
each geographic area has service each day Monday
through Saturday.
■ Bell Gardens: $11,200 for one additional day of
service each week from March to June.
■ Bell Gardens: $32,800 for one additional day of
service each week from September to June .
■ Cudahy: $49,500 of CRA dollars to add 2 days of
service each week October to June.
■ Diamond Bar: $70,000 (including $10,000 to be
used for materials) in 1992 to add 2 days of service
each week February to June.
■ Gardena: $27,200 for 7 hours per week of added
service for period of March to June.
■ Malibu: $50,000. a joint grant split between the
City of Malibu and the Friends of the Malibu Library,
added a day of service February through June.
■ Manhattan Beach: $94,000 to provide an added
one day of service September to January and two
days of service through June.
■ Maywood: $25,400 for Saturday service October to
January.
■ Norwalk $28,800 kept the Alondra Library, the
second in the city, open March to June and $21,600
for books and materials.
■ Paramount: $10,000 for materials purchases.
■ San Fernando: $15,000 for materials purchases.
■ Walnut: $102,200 for Saturday service September
through January.
■ West Hollywood: $19,800 to added service
February to June, 1994.
County Libraries Are Worth It!
In an effort to avert further closures of libraries
beyond the 10 closed permanently, the Library
Foundation sponsored a grassroots fund-raising
campaign, known as County Libraries Are Worth It
which began with National Library Week, April 18-
23, 1994.
The positive, inventive spirit of staff, Friends of the
Library, Local 660, and cities provided the magic
infectiousness of the fund-raising campaign. We saw
the power of working toward the same goal. Over
$107,000 was raised including $2,839 from t-shirt
sales, $13, 241 from donations from Friends of the
Library groups, $1,130 from Board of Supervisors'
staff and other County employees, and $25,800 from
special events organized by staff. The donations
came from thousands of people, including children
offering fistfuls of pennies to the Lomita Fun Run
which raised over $6,000.
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1994 Volunteers qf the Year
Volunteers Sussana Campos
and Matthew Medina
represented the Library
at the County's annual
Volunteer Recognition in ApnI
Active Fronts: Volunteer and Friends Qf the
Library
Good things come from hard times. Communities
rallied for the Library in a big way with nine new
Friends of the Library groups forming, including the
revitalization of dormant groups. New groups
included Los Amigos de la Biblioteca de Bell
Gardens, Friends of the Littlerock Library, Friends of
the Lake Los Angeles Library, and Friends of the
South Whittier Library. Groups revitalized in East
Los Angeles, Lynwood, San Fernando, West
Hollywood, and West Covina. There are now 62
Friends of the Library groups supporting County of
Los Angeles Public community libraries.
Membership stands at over 5,000 people. Fund­raising
efforts included a golf tournament,
international teas, and an elegant fashion show.
Bookstores partnered with Friends groups to raise
book donations and monetary donations.
West, South and East Regions held very successful
Friends Exchanges so that groups in the area could
swap ideas. A Library-wide Friends Exchange was
held in February, 1993 in conjunction with the
conference of the American Library Association.
Sandy Dolnick, Executive Director of the Friends of
the Library, U.S.A., shared ideas from Friends groups
around the nation.
1993
The Library's entry for the county-wide adult
Volunteer Recognition Program competition in 1993
was Jane Mahon, who took the lead in establishing
the Walnut Literacy Service Program at the Walnut
Library. At a time when the library was severely
impacted by funding curtailments, she helped the
Library expand literacy services for the community.
In addition to being the Library's Volunteer of the
Year, Jane was awarded the 1993 Categorical Award
in Education by the County Board of Supervisors.
The youth volunteer entry was Rosemary Kim, who
at the age of 13 started to volunteer at the Temple
City Library. Rosemary was instrumental in putting
barcoded labels on books for the conversion of the
library to the automated circulation system.
1994
The entry for the adult volunteer recognition
competition in 1994 was Sussana Campos, a
developmentally disabled worker from the Temple
City Library who helped with circulation functions
and responsibly handled over 25,000 volumes.
The youth volunteer entry was Matthew Medina, a
nine-year-old from the Lynwood Library. Matthew
shelves books in the children's section, preparing the
newspaper for customers, filing videos, mending
books, and assisting with children's crafts programs.
He tells people how to use the compact disc catalog
and processes discarded books. Postscript: In
October, 1994 Matthew was the recipient of the
Circle of Life Youth Award given at the International
Conference on Volunteer Administration Conference.
Matthew was one of only twelve youth so honored in
California.
Internal Volunteer Recruitment
Beginning in 1993-94, thirty ... that's thirty!. .... staff
from Library Headquarters volunteered to work one
day a week on the front line to help alleviate the staff
shortages caused by heavy attrition. This was
especially noteworthy at a time in which Technical
Services lost 12 positions due to budget cuts and still
managed to catalog 39,500 new titles from gifts and
grants.
Volunteer Pilot at Lomita Library
A Can Do Crew recently produced a new component
to the Library's Volunteer Corps, to give communities
the option of providing an added day of service
through the mix-in of volunteer staff with paid staff.
In April, 1994, the Lomita Library served as a
successful pilot test of this concept. Quickly the
cities of Bellflower and Hawthorne also used groups
of trained community volunteers to work side-by­side
with Library staff to extend hours. Each city
provided the continual pool of reliable volunteers
from which the library staff conducted interviews
and selected individuals for weekly work
assignments.
In another part of the Library Volunteer Corps
program, sessions trained potential volunteers on the
basics of shelving and telephone skills as well as
covering the Library's "customer" orientation
philosophy.
DID YOU KNOW:
Federal spending on libraries totals only 57 cents
per person-- about the cost ef a pack ef gum.
Library Headquarters
celebrated IO years ac the
Downey location.
L-R Retired Supervisor, Pete
Schabarum; County Libranan,
Sandra Reuben and Chief ef
Technical Services, Wendy
Romano
Seq// eryoy IO year Celebration The 1994 Afacan American 'Living Legends" celebration honoree was
Teny Mc Millian, author qf Waiting to Exhale. (L-R) County Librarian,
Sandra Reuben; Autumn Burke,- Supe1visor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke,­Actress,
Angela Bassett and author, Teny Mc Millian
)'-----~-------~-
Black History
The 1993 Black History tribute to Black archivist
Mayme Clayton followed in the tradition of
excellence. The program was entertaining, with
gospel presentations by Brothers Are We and an
excellent original skit by The Andrew Marshall
Players. Mayme Clayton, a librarian who used her
initiative to amass an excellent collection of one-of-a­kind
pieces of Black history, gave us all inspiration.
The honoree at the A C Bilbrew Library's Black
History Program for 1994 was author Terry McMillan.
National Library Week: Libraries Change
Lives
Speakers and honorees at the Library's annual
National Library Week breakfast in 1993 were Faye
and Jonathan Kellerman, both noted mystery writers.
and Milbrae Burch, storyteller.
The 1994 National Library Breakfast attracted
hundreds of staff, community supporters, Union and
professional colleagues to the Sportsmen's Lodge in
Studio City. Authors Saundra Sharp and Earl Ofari
Hutchinson captivated the audience.
Both years, this was occasion to announce the
annual awards presented to our best: Charlotte
Award (achievement in Children's service), Citizens
Award, Librarian of the Year, Support Staff Award,
Productivity Award, and Customer Service Award.
Tenth Anniversary Celebration at Library
Headquarters
On December 1. 1993, we took some time in our busy
schedules to stop and commemorate the fact that we
have occupied and enjoyed the Library Headquarters
in Downey for 10 years. Streamered balloons
decorated the ceiling. White poinsettias brought
memories of our building dedication on December 16,
1983. Display boards captured pictures from the time
of construction through our present life in the
building. We enjoyed three special cakes which
together spelled LHO. The surprise visitor of the day
was former Supervisor of the First District, Pete
Schabarum. At that time, the Downey Headquarters
was within the First District and Supervisor
Schabarum was personally very involved in bringing
the Library Headquarters project to reality.
We paused to reminisce about 1983 and the decade
from then to now. In 1983, we were not only moving
five separate administration locations into our new
administrative building but we were also opening the
Point Dume Library. New libraries also emerged in La
Verne and Walnut. The Hawaiian Gardens Library
was renovated and the Helen Mork Children's Area
was dedicated. We prepared for the Olympic Games
in L.A. We shifted to the amazing compact disc
catalog and ceased untangling our microfilm catalog.
We began using telefax machines. We had 898,000
cardholders (now 1.4 million) and circulated 11 million
items (now 16 million) We toiled to complete the
Request for Proposals for the automated circulation
system. The Summer Reading Club theme was
Beastly Reading Feast. We added 11 literacy centers,
bringing our total to 17. As our part in the LA Co-op
(partnerships with neighboring universities), we
brought recreational reading to the Cal State L.A.
campus with our bookmobile stop. The County
Museum of Art placed exhibits at 14 of our libraries.
Sandra Kersley was Librarian of the Year.
In the greater world in 1983, U.S. Marines were killed
by a terrorist explosion in Beirut. The U.S. invaded
Grenada. "Publishers Weekly" reported that summer
bookstore sales gained as compared to the prior year.
Big sellers (and library circulators) were In Search of
Excellence. Meqatrends. The One Minute Manager,
and the Little Drummer Girl. A pacific storm hit
California and hurled tornadoes into Los Angeles and
Pasadena. The Coalinga earthquake shook us up.
The hottest August on record caused $10 billion
damage to crops. The New York Metropolitan Opera
was 100 years old. The PLO and Egypt made peace.
Congress approved the Martin Luther King, Jr.
holiday. The U.S. assigned "No. 1 priority" to find the
cause of AIDS. Sally Ride became the first woman
member of the space shuttle crew and became the
first American woman in space.
photo above: Author-Poet Saundra Sharp celebrated
National Library Week with the County Library in 1994
Awards and Kudos
■ Audio Express, a cost effective and customer
oriented mail-order service for audio books, received
a National Association of Counties (NACo) Award in
1992.
■ Audio Express was recognized formally at the
Board of Supervisors meeting of October 20, 1992 for
being one of the top ten productivity projects this
year in the County. This and our many additional
productivity projects were recognized at an elegant
reception at the County Museum of Art the evening
before. Other projects. of which we are very proud,
are: the Quality Control Center for ACS database
management, the Las Virgenes bookmobile grand
opening, the preventive maintenance training video,
area code labels, assembly of our school relations
packets by students of the LA Unified School
District, the Norwalk Library behind-the-scenes
telephone reference, "Read to Me" cooperative
training, Begin at the Beginning with Books, South
Region's program of cooperative bilingual story
programs, A C Bilbrew Library's Homework Help
Center, and the La Puente Library Improvement
Project.
■ Begin at the Beginning with Books. a literacy
program aimed at breaking family cycles of illiteracy,
received a National Association of Counties Award
in 1993. Begin at the Beginning with Books also
received one of the coveted John Cotton Dana
Awards, the Library profession's recognition for
excellence in public relations, at the conference of
the American Library Association. in 1993.
■ County of Los Angeles Public Library Award
Winners for 1993 and 1994:
1993 I 1994
Support Services Award
Virgilio Angeles I Donna Eisenhut
Productivity Award
San Fernando Aides & Pages/ Valencia Library
Aides & Pages
Citizens Award
Karen Garofalo I Florence Rutherford and
Huell Howser
Charlotte Award
Gillian Ray / Evelyn Taylor
Librarian of the Year
Barbara Hirsch / Joanne Eldridge
Customer Service Award
Charles Wheeler
( 1994 was the first year this Award was given)
Business Indicators Follow
Fiscal Circumstances
As perspective to this report, in 1991-92 there were
16,095,328 materials circulated from the County of
Los Angeles Public Library Additional to these
books, another 5.9 million materials were used within
the libraries. This represented a 46% increase in
circulation over the prior two years. It also was an
immense surge from the 13 million the year before,
especially considering the fact that people were
allowed to keep books out longer with the new 3
week loan period. The County Library had the
highest circulation in the nation.
Then in 1992-93, California began the first shifts of
property taxes from local governments to the State.
DID YOU KNOW-Ultimately,
the County of Los Angeles Public Library
lost permanently half of its annual revenue. Business
indicators moved downward, but not as precipitously
as did the revenue, service hours, and materials
budget. The rate of the trend of monthly increase in
circulation began edging downward, which probably
relates to the decrease in the materials purchased,
somewhat longer waits for requests, difficulties in re­shelving
books as quickly as in the past, and fewer
staff to help directly library users.
Following the Library's August, 1994, workforce
reduction, there was an immense increase in activity
on the days open with shortened hours. Staff did an
excellent job in handling the frenetic workload and
service activity which happened during 14 hours of
weekly service access. While more items were
The County Library benefits local business. In 1992-93 the
Library recorded 1,804 contracts which had a total value ef
$2, J 00, 957. This total was cumulated as part ef a study ef
our Minon"ty and Women-owned Businesses
circulated per hour open than in times of full hours,
overall circulation did not match the overall business
levels we experienced when our hours and days of
service were longer (and thus more customer­convenient)
each week and when we were
purchasing new books. Though our hours were cut
by 51 % and the Library budget had not one penny to
purchase materials, reference service remained at
73% (1992/93 level) and circulation remained at 73%
(1992/93 level).
We did register nearly 12,000 new cardholders,
boosting our total number of registered borrowers to
1,459,726. In perspective, this number reflects the
fact that we registered 43% fewer cardholders than
we had the prior year.
THE COUN1Y OF LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY IS A
NETWORK OF COMMUN11Y-FOCUSED LIBRARIES THAT
MEET THE INFORMATIONAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND
RECREATIONAL NEEDS OF A HIGHLY DIVERSE PUBLIC.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING LIFELONG
LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE THROUGH SELF-EDUCATION.
OUR HELPFUL AND EXPERT STAFF
PROVIDES INFORMATION AND OUALl1Y SERVICE AND
PROGRAMS IN A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT WE
OFFER A BROAD AND RELEVANT COLLECTION, AND OUR
EXPANDING INFORMATION NETWORKS USE CURRENT
TECHNOLOGY THE LIBRARY IS IN THE BUSINESS OF
SATISFYING THE CUSTOMER'S NEED TO KNOW
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