Shaky financial footing could force the Goleta Public Library to close in 2018, which is why the city of Goleta is looking into a special ballot tax measure to help save it.
Goleta City Council members were also receptive this week to taking control of the library from Santa Barbara County, which funds a majority of the branch that’s operated by the Santa Barbara Public Library System.
Either way, money will remain an issue.
Goleta is at a crossroads, mainly because the library reserves that have kept the institution afloat through the past few years of operating deficits could be depleted by 2018.
A special tax measure — requiring a two-thirds majority vote — could go on the ballot as soon as November 2016, which would convert it into a Goleta municipal library within the next two years.
The library at 500 N. Fairview Ave. was founded in 1973.
“We’ll be closing the doors of the library whether we like it or not if we don’t do anything,” Councilman Michael Bennett said. “The library is not serving with up-to-date books. There are just a lot of things that are not going on to make it an effective library. We need to do it now.”
The county owned the library until Goleta’s incorporation in 2002, when its collection and associated assets were transferred to the city. Goleta then entered into an agreement with Santa Barbara’s library system to administer services as one of its branches.
Some 88,000 people annually use the library, which gets 51 percent of funding from the county general fund and 14 percent from revenues derived from library fees, fines, rentals, interest earnings and contributions from the Friends of the Goleta Library and other private donations.
Goleta contributes $10,000 each year toward library impact fees to assist with collections, although most other Santa Barbara library branch cities contribute at least $10,000 more, according to Ruth Metz Associates, which was hired to conduct an independent evaluation of library operations.
Expenses have outpaced revenues recently even though the library has already reduced staffing levels, hours of operation and its book and materials budget.
In the 2014 fiscal year, the library had to use $136,389 in library reserves to pay the difference between revenues ($1.17 million) and expenses ($1.3 million), Ruth Metz reported to council.
That reserves payout is projected at $212,151 for 2015-16 and $259,233 in 2016-17.
Based on preliminary state library data from 2012-13, Metz said municipal libraries serving a population comparable to Goleta were funded on average at $73 per capita compared to the $15.79 per capita funding the Goleta library received in the 2013-14 fiscal year.
A Goleta ad hoc library advisory committee survey of voters in 2014 shows the highest public support for a supplemental special tax was in the mid-50-percent range, with tax of $18.08 per year per single-family household.
Council members were deterred by a number of add-ons Metz suggested if the city decides to go the municipal library route, the most expensive of which was adding a library director with an entry level salary of $134,748.
Other administrative overhead and equipment upgrades were recommended for the Goleta library, which currently has 21 employees — most work part time — although Metz suggested going up to 25 or 26.
Councilman Roger Aceves was in favor of Goleta taking over the library but suggested keeping staffing and other expenses at current levels, at least at the start.
Acquiring more books was important to Councilman Tony Vallejo, who wondered if electronic books would be less expensive or more accessible.
“I think it’s important for council to know the reality of acquiring digital media,” City Manager Michelle Greene said.
Libraries are typically charged $100 per title (one e-book) — something consumers could get for $10 — and the institutions can’t accept donated e-books, per manufacturer rules, according to library staff members, who cited research noting kids and teenagers aren’t that interested in digital books anyway.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” Vallejo said.
Mayor Paula Perotte suggested asking UC Santa Barbara for funds, since so many of its students live in Isla Vista and could use the library. Greene said that option hadn’t been considered, but staff was thinking about including Isla Vista residents because many young families reside there.
“I’m very sensitive to people and the idea of a new tax,” Perotte said. “For me, it would have to be very clear that this is just money generated for the Goleta library and what it would be used for.”
Staff said both county and Goleta residents would have to approve the library special tax measure for it to move forward.
Aceves moved to direct staff to begin discussions with the county and state for the special tax, along with letting the Goleta City Council serve as the board of trustees if the city takes over the library.
“I do believe we need to move forward,” he said. “This is all about local control, but we have to get the county and state to join us on it. It should be our library.”
Council members asked for clarification on what the city would actually be paying for if it assumed control over the library, but Perotte showed hesitation.
She agreed the idea was worth looking into, but said she was concerned about adding it to Goleta’s plate.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.