Speaker for July 14 - MaryEllin Santiago

MaryEllin Santiago of Santiago Library Consulting gave a wonderful presentation on her work with the City of Ventura.  She was hired as a consultant to assist in examining the current library system and the ways that it can be improved.

MaryEllin believes that the public library system should reflect the needs and wants of the community it serves.  As such, she created a questionnaire for the citizens to gather their opinions.  After receiving approximately 2,500 responses, she learned a great deal.

The citizens are very interested in the children’s programs offered at the library; however, they requested that such programs be offered in the evening and on weekends.  A large percentage of citizens work during the day and cannot take advantage of these programs if the library closes at 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.

The citizens were also interested in having more locations, particularly for citizens in the East side of the city.  Not surprisingly, the citizens want more popular books.  MaryEllin feels that the citizens are trying to say that they want to feel the same way when they walk into the library as they do when walking into a Barnes and Noble and seeing all of the new books and magazines.

MaryEllin presented statistics on the amount of money spent on libraries per citizen:  City of Ventura $17.45, Ventura County $23.38, and State of California $32.70.  More funding does not always mean a better library.  It all depends on how the money is spent.

MaryEllin will be presenting the City Council with her findings and her suggestions for improving the local libraries.  She does not anticipate any additional funding for the libraries, but instead is giving recommendations that can be implemented within the confines of the current budget.  It is hopeful that the City Council will provide a response to the data and recommendations in October 2011.

MaryEllin spoke about the place of libraries in society today.  Just recently, libraries were given the designation of an essential service.  This means that if there is a disaster, that libraries will be given the same priority in receiving assistance as police, fire, etc.  The idea is that people need a central place to get information and help while rebuilding and the library can fulfill this function.

Libraries are now known much more for the services they offer than the books they have available.  Libraries offer all types of services including:  computers, internet, homework assistance, children’s programs, senior programs, job search assistance, and a variety of classes.  Books are no longer the main draw for libraries.

MaryEllin believes that libraries will continue to change and expand to meet the needs of its patrons, and will be an important part of every community for a long time to come.

Thank you MaryEllin for reminding us of the great value that can be found at our local library.