Overburdened Library Will Get Relief Once Non-Resident Fee is Enacted

Enacting an $80 annual library card fee for residents who live outside of the Santa Clara County Library District was a difficult but necessary decision to bring relief to overburdened county libraries like Cupertino's, Mayor Gilbert Wong told the Cupertino City Council Tuesday night.

Cupertino's Community Librarian Mark Fink said residents can expect less wait time for items on hold, more efficient service and a less crowded parking lot, after the fee goes into effect on July 1.

Wong added that he wanted to make it clear to Cupertino residents that county library services would remain free for them. He said he was contacted by concerned residents after the vote by the district’s Joint Powers Authority board on June 2. Wong sits on the board as Cupertino’s representative.

“It was a really tough decision for the Joint Powers Authority,” Wong said Tuesday night. "We definitely want to have a free library system and share with the other libraries surrounding us, but the 800-pound gorilla, which is right next to us, the city of San Jose, is having financial problems."

San Jose City libraries have been cut back to three days a week, and the newly built Calabazas branch library, just blocks away from the Cupertino border at the corner of Rainbow Drive and Blaney Avenue, sits empty, thanks to budget constraints. By contrast, the is open seven days a week for a total of 60 hours.

“We’re seeing more usage in our library, and the biggest complaint that we have is that there’s not enough parking and it's too noisy in our library,” Wong said.

Fink, said he expects the library’s visitor level to drop slightly from an annual high of 950,000 visitors once the fee goes into effect July 1.

“We expect to be able to provide a greater variety of services, and more efficient services for people who live in the district who pay for the library services,” Fink told the council.

Fink said the library district expects about 2 percent of the current non-resident patrons will purchase the cards. County Deputy Librarian Derek Wolfgram said the district estimates the fees will bring in $240,000 a year.

Another stressor on the library district’s budget, Wong said, is expected cuts in contributions from the state to cover the cost of out-of-district library patrons.

, the JPA voted to allow non-resident preschool through 12th-grade students at public and private schools from school districts that are in the county library district to apply for a free limited-access card.

Wong pointed out that anyone from other cities outside of the nine-city library district can use the facility, although they won’t have access to the libraries’ online resources without the paid card.

In Cupertino, free WI-FI access is available from the city’s civic center WI-FI. At other county libraries, such as the Los Altos library, only card holders can access the library WI-FI.

“I’m hoping and crossing my fingers that as things get better, as things turn around, and at the right time and right moment, if we don’t have to implement this $80 fee, we’d like to remove it,” Wong said in an interview.

The issue came up on Tuesday night as part of a discussion about next year’s city budget, which should be finalized at the council’s next meeting, June 21.

In the proposed budget, Cupertino would pay $246,513 for the six additional hours it already contracts for, over and above the county’s 54 hours of operation. Wong said he would be interested in paying for a total of 12 hours, or  $369,770. The increase would put Cupertino—which is the most used library in the system—on a par with the Los Altos and Milpitas county libraries, which are each open 66 hours a week.

In his testimony, Fink shared several facts about the Cupertino Library with council members, including these:

• 3.3 million items were checked out last year; he’s expecting 3.4 million this year.
• About 60 percent of the items are checked out by Cupertino residents. About 25 percent are checked out by San Jose residents and 10-12 percent by Sunnyvale residents. Both San Jose and Sunnyvale have their own city libraries and are not part of the county library district.
• Cupertino residents volunteer 300-500 hours every month to the library.