Plans for a new library in Orcutt will move forward after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors decided to include the project in its next five-year plan.

The board officially designated the future library as a priority project last week and chose to advance a more expansive design, but kept the option to scale it back in the future.  

Four of the five board members voted for the plan, while Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann abstained.

The proposed library would be located along Clark Avenue, just south of Orcutt Creek near the eastern edge of Old Town. The building would be built alongside the OASIS Senior Center.

Much of the discussion focused on the project’s cost. The county has already secured about $6 million in funding, but an estimated $23 million to $38 million remains unfunded.

Making the project a priority means county staff will develop a plan to pay for it and the next stages.

County staff presented the board with two library design options. Option A would include the library, a veterans memorial, a community green area, a drop-off area, a bike path, a site for stormwater retention, a parking lot and a secondary overflow parking lot.

The smaller schematic, Option B, would include only the library, a single parking lot and stormwater retention.

Option A would cover 19,700 square feet and would cost an estimated $44.2 million. Option B would cover 14,300 square feet and cost an estimated $28.5 million.

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino and Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson supported the more expansive plan, while Second District Supervisor Laura Capps and Hartmann expressed concern about the cost.

Nelson called Option A an investment in the Orcutt community. He added that forecasts show the project would most likely cost more in the future.

Lavagnino sided with Nelson and called the item a need for Orcutt.

He said other communities have libraries because someone decided in the past they were necessary.

“Somebody made a decision a long time ago that that was a need,” Lavagnino said, “and if it’s a need for them, then it’s a need for Orcutt.”

At the end of the discussion, Hartmann said she was still unsure of what to do considering the county’s financial situation. She said the county has already laid off employees, and the budget is expected to be worse next year.

“I want to find a strategy to keep getting more information, but I still don’t feel like I’m able to weigh the decisions equally with the information that I have,” she said. “So, I’m stuck.”

In the end, the supervisors agreed to move forward with the larger project option. However, the board also directed staff to keep the smaller plans as an option in case the county needs to scale back the project in the future.

Community members attended the meeting to express their support for the library.

The speakers, many of them seniors, said a larger library would provide resources, activities and a way for them to socialize. One of the reasons for building the library next to the OASIS Senior Center was the desire to address the area’s aging population.

Marci Watson, board secretary for the Friends of the Orcutt Library, shared that when she returned to college late in life to earn a degree, she relied on her local library.

Now, Watson said she relies on the library to avoid costly subscriptions and obtain new books. It also lets her spend time with her 92-year-old mother.  

However, she told the board that the current Orcutt library is too small and will not support the area’s growing population.

“Having the funding for a larger Orcutt library adjacent to the new OASIS Center will help us all experience a sense of community both indoors and outside utilizing walking paths and grassy areas outside,” she said.

April Huckabey, a trustee for the Orcutt Union School District, told the board the library would benefit not only seniors but also students and families. She said the library would connect the community and bring generations together.

“This isn’t just about constructing a new building,” she said. “It’s about investing in the health, education and the future of Orcutt.”