"I'm glad that when July 1 comes around, we will not have to reduce service to 36 hours a week," said Marcia Manzo, president of the Friends of Saratoga Libraries.

Voters were asked their opinions on two measures in the recent mail-in election. Measure A asked for a 10-year reinstatement of a parcel tax that expires in June and will cost $33.66 per year per parcel. Measure B asked county property owners for an additional $12 per year. Both measures required a two-thirds majority to pass.

The results announced by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on May 3 show that Measure A garnered 72 percent of the vote. However, Measure B failed to attain the requisite two-thirds majority, getting only 64 percent of the vote.

"I think it was a brilliant move to have two separate measures--one to maintain the current level of service and another to extend it," said Manzo.

She attributed the failure of Measure B to the stagnant economic climate in the region. "I have a feeling that Saratoga voters might have also voted to pass Measure B. We had full support in our community," she said.

The successful passage of Measure B would have enabled the libraries to remain open seven days a week. The Saratoga Library is closed on Mondays.

Manzo said that she's glad that the election is over. She said that she had often worked between 40 and 60 hours a week during the campaign. "We were making a lot of calls in the early weeks," she said.

About 150 volunteers worked on the effort in Saratoga. The Friends spent $30,000 on the campaign.

County Librarian Melinda Cervantes spent the evening of May 3 with supporters of the library at Rio Adobe restaurant in Cupertino.

"We grew more excited as the evening progressed. The failure of Measure B didn't dampen our spirits. It didn't knock the wind out of our celebration," she said. "We came awfully close to passing that, too."

Cervantes said that she planned to open up discussions in the community soon to discuss possible shifting of library hours. "We'll survey the community to help us in the next stage of our planning," she said.

Saratoga Librarian Dolly Barnes followed the vote count from home. "I was updating the Web page every second," she said.

Barnes said that she was a little disappointed that Measure B didn't pass. "I'm really pleased though. If Measure A failed, it would be really devastating," she said.

Barnes said that she was looking forward to firming up the library's summer program now that Measure A has passed. She also said that the next few months would be spent in reevaluating library services.

Saratoga Vice Mayor Norman Kline, who is also a member of the Joint Powers Authority Board that runs the county's library system, said the results proved that local residents wanted to support the libraries.

"This is a terrific result. The Santa Clara County Library System is one of the best in the country. There isn't much it doesn't do," said Kline.

He said that the JPA was looking into ways of making the library system more efficient.

"The JPA wants to invest in new technologies so that library staff can spend more time with patrons," Kline said.

He said that the JPA board was looking at vendors who sell automatic shelving equipment. "We are also looking at a new technology where you can check books out just by walking out the door," he said.

Kline said that the JPA wanted to use money wisely.

"We want it to remain the best library system in the United States," he said.