Supervisors Stand Against Library Assembly Bill

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors went on record today against proposed state legislation that would make it more difficult for a city to break from a county library system and establish its own.

Supervisor John Tavaglione, who also serves as president of the California State Association of Counties, authored the resolution against AB 438, calling the proposed measure "another state incursion into a locally elected government's administrative authority.''

Under the bill, which was introduced in February by Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, any city seeking to separate from a free public library system operated by its host county would be required to first receive voter approval, abrogating what traditionally has been the province of city councils and boards of trustees.

Tavaglione's resolution blasts the idea of forcing "cities to spend revenue on an election which can cost a substantial amount of money.''

The bill takes issue with contracting with a private company to provide library services in a municipality. But Tavaglione noted that the county has used a private vendor to run its libraries since 1997.

"The savings from using a private library operator may be used by cities to keep libraries open, provide improved library services and expand library hours of operation,'' the supervisor said.

AB 438 is slated for consideration Monday by the Assembly's Committee on Local Government.

Libraries in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar are part of the Riverside County Library system. --City New Service