by Kathy Thomson
It has been 50 years since the glory days of library building in Ventura.
The front building of E.P. Foster Library was added in 1959, Avenue Library opened at a new location and expanded hours in 1964 and H. P. Wright Memorial Library was built in 1965. Ventura’s population had grown from 29,114 in 1960 to 57,964 in 1970. San Buenaventura Friends of the Library was founded in 1969 “to promote and share the wealth of information and opportunities the public library has to offer”.
A lot has changed in Ventura since our most recent library was built. Population has grown to 108,961 as of January, 2014. Many aspects of library service have changed but much has remained the same. Patrons still reserve and pick up books, browse the shelves , bring children to story time and Summer Reading Program and ask questions of the helpful and well trained staff. But now, computers are in high demand and used regularly, e-books, music and videos are downloaded from the library system, Kindle e-readers can be borrowed from the library, and most reference materials can be accessed on line. A lot has changed but what remains is that citizens of all ages need and use a library.
It is quite clear the huge population growth from 1960 to 2014 has occurred east of Ventura College yet the library that was built to service that population is no longer available. It is imperative the Friends and our supporters, continue to work toward restoring and growing library services to meet the needs of Ventura’s citizens. Since the closing of Wright Library, the Friends have been consistently working with the City of Ventura, Ventura Library Advisory Commission, Ventura County Library System and our representative on the Board of Supervisors, Steve Bennett, to bring library service to the Ventura’s huge population center on the East End. Most recently, our newly elected Vice President, Marianne Coffey, and I have met with Supvr. Bennett to look for unused or underutilized county property east of Victoria Ave. to begin that establishment of an east side library presence. We are hoping our cooperative efforts between the county and city will ultimately solve the problem of lack of library services on the east end.
We have a great opportunity to plan for Ventura’s future library location, theme and service model. Your attention to this continued effort is greatly appreciated. Your contributions, attention to Library Advisory Commission and City Council library issues, and invitation to your friends and neighbors to support libraries through a Friends membership are important ways that you can help.
Just a reminder, a portion of funds raised each year goes to the Friends’ Capital Improvement Fund while the rest goes toward library collection materials, equipment and programs. Many still are not aware that without the generous support of the contributors to FOL, programs and new materials at our libraries would be nonexistent.