Saratoga News

Is community room's use city's decision or county's?

By Sarah Lombardo

Saratoga City Councilmembers say they'd like to look at making more room in the Saratoga Community Library without taking away the library's community room. But a consultant brought in by the county has been told simply to come up with the best way to make use of all the space in the library.

And the issue is raising questions about who would make the final decision if the consultant recommended using the library for storage or bookshelves: the county, which runs the library, or the city, which owns the building.

Space consultant Bob Rohlf was hired by the county--for a maximum payment of $5,000--after a bond issue to expand the cramped library was tabled last November. A survey showed that local voters didn't think there was a space problem at the library. So the county decided to call in an expert to see if library officials are really making the best use of space within the current building.

Rohlf visited the library in April and is expected to have recommendations ready by June.

"The way he works is he basically turns the building upside down and dumps everything out and then tries to put it all back again, which is difficult because we have a one-gallon building and six quarts of stuff," Saratoga Library Commission chairwoman Marcia Manzo said.

But at a joint meeting between the commission and the council April 21, Councilmember Stan Bogosian said he'd like to see the consultant try to work out a plan that leaves the community room alone, including it in a reorganization plan only as a last resort. "The community room is a valuable resource for Saratoga," he said.

Library officials doubt any space solution can be reached without using the room.

"To make the structure better, you have to lose something," Manzo told the council, "either a significant portion of the collection, all the seating or the community room."

Councilmembers asked if Rohlf had been instructed to look into adding a room onto the building, but Manzo said she doesn't want a temporary solution to be a permanent one.

"I feel if we did that, it would become the long-term solution, and that is in fact just a Band-Aid," she said. "If you do this pod add-on, it will be that much harder to convince voters that we need more room."

Councilmember Paul Jacobs asked who would make the final decision to use the community room if the report recommends it. Manzo and commissioners said they thought the county would because it runs the library. But councilmembers pointed out that it was the city's building. City staffers were asked to look into the matter, and councilmembers said they'd also like to see the consultant's report when it was completed.

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