Publication Date: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Are Palo Alto's libraries becoming a footnote?
Are Palo Alto's libraries becoming a footnote?
(September 29, 2004) Branches are lagging far behind other communities
by Bill D'Agostino
Stacey Olgado lives five blocks from Palo Alto's Main Library. Yet when she needs to check out a book for herself or her two children, Olgado drives to Los Altos or Mountain View.
"They have so much more to offer than our libraries," she said.
In a striking reversal, more Palo Alto residents use libraries outside the city than non-residents use Palo Alto's five libraries. More than 6,000 residents (10 percent of the population) hold library cards in Mountain View and Menlo Park.
It's a sore point for a city that boasts more recreational amenities than nearly any other similarly sized California community, including 4,000 acres of parkland, 50 tennis courts and a junior museum and zoo.
But its libraries lack basic services that are commonplace in the modern American library.
In the five branches, noise drifts from one area to others intended for quiet study. There is no available space for public meetings. Programs promoting such causes as adult literacy are non-existent.
"There are all these things that other libraries do that we would love to do, but we can't do them because we don't have the space or the staff," said Christina Detchemendy, a senior librarian at the Mitchell Park branch.
The lack of funds and space also force librarians to constantly remove old books to make room for new additions.
"I've had to weed out materials that, if we had the space, I would never gotten rid of," Maya Spector, senior librarian at the Children's Library said, echoing other librarians. "It's hard to watch some of those precious old things go."
Two years ago, library advocates attempted to raise $49.1 million for library improvements through a bond measure. It failed at the polls, but the city's aggressive and politically savvy new library director is considering trying for a new tax measure. She is also hinting at a political landmine --closing some of the smaller branches if the city can't spend more on libraries.
Getting new funding for libraries from the City Council will be hard to achieve, given the lingering effects of the dot-com bust and the city's own budget problems.
"This is a difficult time -- with our revenues having fallen in the past couple of years -- to talk about how we could expand services," Mayor Bern Beecham said.
Few of Palo Alto's amenities are as beloved as its libraries, but little has been done despite years of staunch supporters calling for change.
New Library Director Paula Simpson hopes to find an answer. Since starting in April 2004, Simpson -- who spearheaded efforts to improve Monterey's library system, including establishing a homework center and cafe -- has been off to a rolling start. She has been meeting often with community groups and interested residents, assessing the situation while subtly building a base of support for any future political fights.
Her first public meeting, tellingly, was held in the Palo Alto Art Center. The Main Library next door didn't have room for such a gathering.
"I'm here to challenge every assumption," Simpson told the crowd in at that time, before asking for desired improvements. Most often, crowds have requested a better collection of books and media, she said.
In mid-November, Simpson will gather all she's learned and deliver a "State of the Libraries" report to the City Council. It will also mark the official start of lobbying for the changes library advocates have desired for years.
Palo Alto's five libraries are all between 33 to 64 years old. All were built when lending books and places for quiet study were the primary functions of a library.
Libraries today serve new purposes. They're community-gathering places, homework-help centers, computer-training labs and much more. They now lend CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs and books-on-tape.
Nearby cities have coped with such growth. Santa Clara opened a new library in April; Redwood City built a new one in 1988 and is planning yet another branch for 2007; and Mountain View rebounded from a defeat at the polls to build a new library in 1997. San Jose's libraries were recently won national acclaim, and its residents will vote on a parcel tax for libraries in November.
While other communities have prospered, Palo Alto's libraries haven't even been able to provide air conditioning.
As Simpson sees it, the main reason for such disparity is that Palo Alto is maintaining five libraries with the budget for two-and-a-half branches. The system spends approximately the same amount of money other nearby communities use to run one or two.
The city is spending $5.3 million on its libraries this year. Redwood City is spending $5.1 million, and Santa Clara is spending $6.25 million. But both of those communities only currently run two libraries -- a main branch and a smaller one serving a limited function.
But Palo Alto's five branches, taken together, are open at least twice the total number of hours of other nearby libraries. Each requires individual collections of books and media, ongoing maintenance and staff.
"It's the five branches that are killing us," said Lenore Jones, the chair of the Palo Alto's Library Advisory Commission.
Simpson said the city's librarians are so overtaxed keeping five circulation desks running, they don't have time to start other programs, find volunteers, or apply for grants. Plus, the collection can't be as comprehensive because the city is purchasing duplicate copies of books and magazines.
"Trying to run all those libraries is a rough job," said Menlo Park Library Director Susan Holmer. "Probably they're stretching their budget as far as they can."
Simpson also argues that five branches don't necessarily guarantee equal access for all residents. Some Palo Alto neighborhoods get a library in their backyard, while others -- such as those in south Palo Alto near the now-closed Terman branch or in north Palo Alto near Stanford West -- get shortchanged.
"It needs to be equitable," Simpson said. "The library, as a system, was never really planned to touch all parts of the city."
An outreach van bringing books and librarians to daycare and senior care centers, schools and other spots "needs to be considered, at some point, if accessibility is going to be one of our priorities," Simpson said.
Advocates of Palo Alto's multiple libraries are worried Simpson will advocate closing one or two of the smaller, neighborhood-serving branches (such as Downtown or College Terrace) to focus instead on the two larger facilities, Mitchell Park and Main.
Previous library commissioners and directors have made that argument in the past, but have always been shot down by those arguing the neighborhood libraries are essential to the Palo Alto way of life.
"We've gone through that time and again," Library Commissioner Tom Wyman argued. "We're not prepared to sacrifice branch libraries for one or two. Perhaps it's a case of wanting your cake and eating it too, but nevertheless ... the branch libraries are so important to the community."
The community, Simpson argued, should first think about which services it wants and then decide the fate of its facilities.
"For a city of 60,000 with a geographic area of 26 sq. miles, five facilities is excessive," Simpson wrote in a recent e-mail to a resident. "However, there is a strong support throughout the community for the 'neighborhood library' concept. In light of this, my challenge is to figure out how to provide 'neighborhood' service equitably and cost-effectively throughout the community.
"We have a couple of choices. There needs to be a willingness in the community to sacrifice convenience (for some) in favor of better, stronger service for all. Lacking that willingness to sacrifice, we will either need to generate more money for the library or settle for mediocre service."
In a Sept. 22 memo to the library commission, Simpson expanded on her message: "If there is a commitment to more than three service points (branches), the Library needs more public funding than it has now. This could be from a sales tax, parcel tax or other measures. Another alternative would be a gigantic endowment."
Some longtime library advocates pin the blame for the library system's inadequacies squarely on the City Council, which has heard complaints for years without responding, aside from placing the failed bond measure on the ballot. The bond would have greatly expanded Mitchell Park and Children's libraries.
"Nothing will change until the City Council stops being political about the libraries," former Library Advisory Commissioner Tina Kass said. The council listens to groups that make the most noise and "people who support libraries tend to be polite," she said.
In 2002, Kass and two other longtime commissioners resigned after years of numerous recommendations for improvements without significant progress. "Another three years of hitting your head against the wall wasn't appealing," she said.
Later this year, the council is expected to authorize $35,000 in funding to reopen the Downtown Library on weekends (the branch was closed Saturdays during the tough budget times), even though the library commission and library director believe there are greater needs for such scarce dollars.
The push for the funds came from an outspoken group of residents who live near downtown, as well as from the Friends of the Palo Alto Library.
At a recent Library Commission meeting, Councilwoman Hillary Freeman defended her group's choices, saying elected officials can't exactly follow commissions' recommendations.
"What you have to understand is that we also are looking at potholes, we're also looking at storm drains," said Freeman, who ironically was a leader of the Libraries Now! group, that pushed the 2002 bond measure. "We are not just looking at the libraries."
"You're not looking at the libraries at all," Commissioner Paula Skokowski retorted.
In an interview, Councilwoman Dena Mossar also defended the council, saying the community itself has yet to reach a consensus about the library system's fate.
"The library advocates have a very rosy future in their minds; it's a future everyone can get behind," Mossar said. "But there are advocates for any number of other things, and they have rosy futures in their minds."
"It's a non-starter right now," Mossar added, unless the community decides that libraries are the city's No. 1 priority.
The system's shortcomings are most clearly observed at Mitchell Park Library. It's the most used facility of Palo Alto's five branches, with more than 350,000 visitors last year. Around 37 percent of the system's materials circulate through the branch.
It's also only 12,150 square feet.
By contrast, the library in the East Bay city of Pleasanton had slightly more than 450,000 visitors last year in a 30,000-square-foot building. But even that isn't adequate space. An April headline in the Pleasanton Weekly, a sister paper of the Palo Alto Weekly, exclaimed: "Expansion overdue for library."
During morning story-times at Mitchell Park, an average of 80 adults and toddlers cram into one small corner of the building.
When you walk into the library on a typical afternoon, it sounds like a teen center. Most adults leave as the youngsters -- from four elementary and middle schools in the immediately adjacent area -- pour inside. Librarians have made a small area for adults to quietly study in another corner of the library, next to the magazine racks, but the noise spills over and adults grow grumpy.
"In the summer, it's hot and crowded. In the winter, it's way crowded. It's sad," said Jones, the library commission chair. "It's way sad." >
Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com
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