The Contra Costa County Library is asking residents to take a brief online survey that will help set the direction for the library system’s growth. Your input is greatly appreciated! Please share this survey link – ccclib.org/mylibrary – with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues so they can voice their opinions too.

Take the web survey.

Dear Supporters,

Following up on our request for all library supporters to email their concerns to the El Cerrito City Council prior to the budget discussion of June 4, we’re pleased to report that the City Council has agreed to spend $25,000 on an update of the 2006-07 needs assessment survey that we requested. Council members indicated that your emails were absolutely relevant to this decision. And although we did not get funding for additional hours for the library this year, Mayor Greg Lyman committed to holding an open workshop later in the year for citizens to give input on what they think appropriate library hours should be.

Your continued support for the library is appreciated and we certainly welcomed seeing so many of you at the 100th anniversary celebration on June 14.

Sincerely,
The El Cerrito New Library Committee

THANK YOU for your support for a new library! Your actions made a difference.

Tuesday night at the City Council meeting, many council members mentioned the many library-support emails they got earlier that day, as well as the impressive showing of people wearing the green “I support a new library for El Cerrito” badges in the audience.

Spurred by Councilmember Friedman, the Council directed staff to come back in two weeks with creative solutions to fund both additional library hours as well as a needs assessment update in the next budget.

Adding library support was the only significant change several Council members wanted to see in the proposed budget – your emails and attendance at the meeting made a difference in stimulating that request.

If you have not yet indicated your support for additional open library hours each week next year and for an update to the needs assessment, there is still time to do so since the City Council will not make a final budget decision before the next budget hearing June 18 at 7 in the evening at City Hall. If you haven’t done so, please send an email to: Councilmembers@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us and say “I support more library hours and I support updating the Needs Assessment – now, not later.”

THANK YOU again for all you are doing to bring a new library a step closer to reality and for supporting making library services more accessible for all.

Sincerely,

The El Cerrito Needs A New Library Committee

Tuesday night (June 4th) the City Council will be giving the City staff very important budgetary feedback regarding our Library. Times are not the best and there is not enough money available to fund all the things the Council thinks are important.

Do you think it would help the community and the families who live here if our library was open more hours (perhaps even on Sunday) every week?

Do you think it’s time to move forward on replacing our current library, a library that by modern standards should be 21,000 square feet rather than the existing 6,000 square feet?

If you think the answer is yes to either of these then you need to be at the City Council meeting Tuesday night (June 4th).

Part of what the team that drafted the budget wrote in their report is on a page titled “ITEMS CONSIDERED, BUT NOT INCLUDED.” Two of the items on that page are: “An update of our library needs assessment and preliminary architectural services” and also “Increased library hours.” While this appears to be a negative statement it is not. In fact it is actually an open invitation from the team that drafted the budget, and should be interpreted as: “Please tell us if we are wrong and you actually want these things.”

If the public appears at the meeting and tells the Council that we need more hours and that we want progress on a new library then the Council will direct the staff to fund these items in next year’s budget.

If the public doesn’t appear then we can only hope the Council will do as desire without a strong showing of public support.

So be a part of the one-million library supporter flash mob (maybe a slight exaggeration!) and let the Council know that our library requests should be included in El Cerrito’s budgeted expenditures for next year.

Tuesday night June 4th, 7 PM at City Hall. The Budget is agenda item 7. Sign up in advance to speak or just be ready to stand up if someone speaks in favor of the library and finishes with “would everyone who agrees with my position please stand up?” That’s as good as speaking – some members of the Council even think it’s better.

If you can’t make it to the meeting then just send an email to: Councilmembers@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us and say “I support more library hours and I support updating the Needs Assessment – now, not later.”

Thank you so much, we need your support. See you Tuesday night.

The El Cerrito New Library Committee