Another Library Authority Considers Los Altos' Secession and May Offer Subsidies

Secession and subsidies are on tap for discussion Monday in the wake of a controversial decision by the Santa Clara County Library district to charge non-residents $80 for a library card.

The North County Library Authority (NCLA), a Los Altos-Los Altos Hills organization that supports library services for the two Los Altos libraries, has scheduled a special meeting at 5 p.m. on Monday at Los Altos Hills Town Hall's council chambers, in anticipation of a large crowd of stakeholders.

The move comes in reaction to the April 28 decision by the county library board to charge $80 for library cards to non-residents of the Santa Clara County Library system, an action that was met with dismay across the county.

"This whole thing is unneighborly and unfriendly," said Jean Mordo, who, as president of the NCLA, called the meeting. As a member of the county library board as well, Mordo has been a vehement critic of the non-resident fee. Neighbors such as Palo Alto and Mountain View, in particular, use the Los Altos Library.

The NCLA administers funds raised by a $76 parcel tax in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. It has already set aside $10,000 in its budget for possible use as a subsidy for 125 library cards to those from surrounding cities, he said.

The idea was to help students, non-resident volunteers at the library, or people who cannot afford the card, Mordo said. With the July 1 deadline coming up, the board needs to create an ad-hoc committee to set up a simple mechanism to select people so that at least some patrons are not cut off completely.

"It's one way to help a little bit until we find a long-term solution," Mordo said.

Last week, the county library board agreed to offer limited-use library cards to non-resident students in grades K-12, who attend schools or school districts inside the library district, while staving off other proposals to widen the card to all students. Thus, Mountain View students who attend schools in either the Mountain View-Los Altos School District or Los Altos School District could get a library card, but not students of Mountain View-Whisman School District. The NCLA's subsidy could address such students.

The bigger issue on the agenda is the secession study, described as "a study of Alternative Library Services for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills." If the two municipalities were no longer part of the county district, the Los Altos Library and the Woodland Library would not be obligated to charge the $80 fee.

Los Altos and Los Altos Hills would have to request data from the county and hire a consultant to assess the cost and other possible impacts of going it alone, Mordo said.

In addition to Mordo, the NCLA board consists of Jim Lai, a Los Altos Hills resident, Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard, Los Altos City Council Mayor Pro Tem Val Carpenter, and Lenelle Smith, a member of the Los Altos Library Commission and the Los Altos Library Endowment.

Mordo has been in the vanguard of trying to abolish the fee, or soften its effects, even though he was part of the unanimous April 28 vote to approve it.  Mordo said that he, like many members of the county library board, were caught off guard by the proposal to impose an $80 fee. With north county supervisor Liz Kniss in attendance and indicating she was anxious to see a unanimous vote, he said he complied.

"Liz is a friend and she has supported me, and I have supported her," he said, seeing it as a professional and political courtesy. But he subsequently regretted his vote, when he considered the broader community implications. The limited-use cards that the county board approved last week do not help so many of those who use the Los Altos Library, he said.

Non-residents, whether students who attend Foothill College, or volunteers of the Los Altos Library who put in hundreds of hours to make the library run, for example, all would be unfairly affected by such a fee, he said.

The NCLA was formed more than 20 years ago to help keep the Los Altos Library and Woodland Library open seven days a week, and to purchase additional books.

The June 13 meeting is at 5 p.m. in the Los Altos Hills Town Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills.