Moorpark City Library will increase hours, collection
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Moorpark city officials are earnestly preparing for the opening of the municipal library in January. They've already voted to extend hours and upgrade the collection.

The City Council on Wednesday voted to open the library on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 p.m. "The library task force and staff thought Sunday afternoon hours would benefit the community most," said Jennifer Mellon, senior management analyst for the city.

Other hours of operation will be similar to the current schedule, which is 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The hours may increase in the future, but a schedule needed to be set now so the city can finalize an agreement with Library Systems and Services LLC. The consulting firm will staff the library for the first 18 months of operation, maybe more.

The 58hour schedule will require sixandahalf fulltime employees, the report indicated.

Officials also voted to spend $70,000 on high demand materials, including adult bestsellers, children's books, CDs and DVDs. Additional Spanish language materials will also be bought.

Officials also voted to spend about $40,000 refurnish the library so that space is maximized.

"The current furniture and storage options at the library are antiquated and do not make a good use of space," the report states.

Once the library is open, the city will continue to broaden the collections with the guidance of city schools, the library commission and other community groups.

"We want to make as many improvements as we can for the opening but realize we can't do it all. We have to be selective," said Mary Lindley, parks, recreation and community services director. Improvements will continue during the next year, she added.

The library will be closed the first week of January to prepare for the changeover. There will be a soft opening week from Jan. 8 to 12, and a grand opening ceremony is set for Sat., Jan. 13.

The local branch was also accepted into the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System to enable patrons to borrow goods from other libraries, officials said.

The cooperative is an association of libraries in the greater Los Angeles area.

"We're pleased to welcome the new Moorpark City Library to the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System," said Laurel Patric, interim executive director for the cooperative. "Moorpark city officials are obviously excited about the new library and committed to providing quality library services to their community."

Moorpark will become an official member on July 1, 2007. The city will pay a $2,000 per month for full membership privileges, said Lindley.

Until then, the local branch is an associate member so patrons can use the cooperative's book loan program.

Once the city is a full member, local patrons will also be able to obtain a library card at the Grant Brimhall/Thousand Oaks Library without charge.