It has become readily apparent that the City of Santa Ana has NO intentions of opening any more libraries. The City of Santa Ana will make do with one central library and two learning centers. That is of course ridiculous. Most cities our size have as many as three to six library branches.
What to do? Our city leaders, particularly our Mayor, Miguel Pulido, have no will to pursue library funding. There is in fact a very simple solution – concede that we cannot run our library system effectively. And outsource it to the County of Orange.
Take a look at the picture above – Santa Ana is literally ringed by Orange County libraries in Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Tustin. Santa Ana residents would have instant access to over a dozen libraries around our city.
The Orange County library system has in fact over 30 libraries and over 1,100 downloadable digital books. You can also get FREE high speed wireless Internet access at all Orange County libraries.
You also have to believe that the County Supervisors would try to help us open more libraries in our city. I am sure that Supervisor Janet Nguyen would lead the charge.
So why hang on to an underfunded library system? It is pointless.
Also, this would allow us to get rid of the Santa Ana Public Library Board – goodbye Minuteman Lupe Moreno and company!
It should also be noted that the Santa Ana Library blocks access to this blog. So do the computers at the Santa Ana Unified School District. Shameful! I would hope that the Orange County libraries do not engage in similar censorship.
Let’s see if the Santa Ana City Council and Mayor Pulido can do the right thing for once. It is time for us to act like the County seat and make use of a significant County resource – the Orange County Public Library system.
Good points, Art!
FWIT, SAC allows access to your blog.
There are stacks of the Chamber of Commerce “City Line” propaganda in the library and I bet you can access the Chamber web site in the library as well.
You are clueless Art.
Santa Ana is in the process of opening more libraries by partnering with the school district to use some of the campus libraries after hours.
Given the reality that the city doesn’t have funds to buy land and build new facilities, this is an intelligent solution.
I’m surprised you don’t know about this, since it is Sal Tinajero that is the city council point person on this project.
Seems like we could use the city’s 2 libraries, plus the new city/SAUSD libraries, plus a partnership with the county’s facilities instead of just outsourcing to the county.
I notice that the Mission Viejo library, that has “more bricks than books,” was not included in your table. Although our city chose to pull out of the County system during the bankruptcy we have card carrying users from every city in Orange County. One point that needs to be made. As you enter our city be sure to wear your hard hat in that we have been a “blighted city” since 1993. Be sure to lock your car as you enter the library/city hall center as cars have been known to disappear.
So Big Sal wants to open up the SAUSD elementary school libraries for all residents to use. Big Whoop! What resident wants pop-up books and how many times can we read charlotte’s web? Between Pulido and Richardson, Santa Ana is doomed.
Poster 3,
I know all about that. Those libraries will offer LIMITED HOURS. They will only be open to schoolchildren, for obvious reasons.
We need more libraries – real libraries. It is high time to outsource to the County and get serious about solving this crisis.
Let’s see, the county has how many libraries in Santa Ana? Zero!
Should Santa Ana residents have to go elsewhere to get to county libraries?
Also, the county libraries are comprised of mostly new titles. They do not have the volume of Spanish and Vietnamese language material Santa Ana has.
Santa Ana also buys more new books annually with grants than the other libraries in the county. WIth the city demographics, they are eligible for more than the county or most other cities, and the staff is better trained in how to seek out and acquire this funding.
Why would the city want to give that up, and where is your data proving the county could do a better job?