For the first time in decades, the Santa Maria Public Library will soon be open for at least a few hours every day of the week. At a recent meeting, City Council approved the library’s hiring of two librarians and six additional support staff positions, which will give the library the staffing it needs to be open on Sundays.
“[Opening on Sundays] is going to give the public more access to the resources that we have … to the computers, to the internet—things that folks might not necessarily have at home,” Library Management Analyst Briana Martenies said.
Funding for the new positions is generated through Measure U, which is a 1 percent sales tax increase voters approved in November 2018 to pay for additional city services.
Revenue generated through Measure U is broken into three categories. Ninety percent of the funding is dedicated to improving public safety, 5 percent is dedicated to quality of life enhancements, and the remaining 5 percent is dedicated to youth services. It’s the latter category that the library falls under.
“A really important part of the library’s mission is … providing the information people need to build their lives upon,” Martenies said. “We know if we are able to get that information and access to resources to the youth, then we’ll build a stronger community here in Santa Maria.”
The city of Santa Maria runs on a two-year budget, but it makes financial adjustments in June before the new fiscal year begins in July. At the City Council meeting on June 18, the council approved updates to the city’s 2019-20 budget, which includes an additional $600,000 in Measure U funding for the library to fill the eight positions. Martenies said the library plans to begin filling the positions as soon as the funding becomes available on July 1.
The library is hiring a youth services librarian and an outreach librarian, both of which are full-time positions. The other six positions are part time, ranging from 19 to 32 hours each week. After the positions are filled, the library can begin opening on Sundays, but the timeline for when this will happen isn’t clear yet.
The youth services librarian will be in charge of creating youth programs for kids of all ages, while also ensuring the library is stocked with books and other materials for children and teens.
The outreach librarian will work on attending events, visiting schools, and participating in other efforts to make the library more present in the community, Martenies said.
The library hopes to accomplish the latter through its upcoming bookmobile, for which the library is currently raising funds, Martenies said. The project is estimated to cost $200,000. So far, the library has raised about $125,000 through grants and fundraising efforts.
The outreach librarian will play a key part in the bookmobile, which will allow the library to take books, computers, and other resources out to members of the community who don’t have easy access to the library. Martenies said the library is working to identify routes that will take the bookmobile into areas of the city where there are high populations of families with young children, elderly residents who may not drive, and places with little bus service.
“We know that there is limited access to transportation,” Martenies said. “The ability to get here is a barrier to some folks, so the bookmobile is going to allow us to bring the library out to different areas within the city.”
Highlights
• The Leadership Santa Maria Valley class of 2019 unveiled the program’s Legacy Community Trail at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 20. The 1,300-foot walking path is located on a 4.6-acre parcel of land on Carmen Lane and is now open to members of the public. In the future, the area surrounding the path will include a community garden and picnic areas.
Zac Ezzone wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, mail, or email at spotlight@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 4-11, 2019.
