SR-850-007 (2)
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City council Meeting of 11/10/87
Santa Monica, California ~ 0 198.
TO: Mayor and City council
FROM: City staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to participate in Universal Borrowing
INTRODUCTION
This report presents a recommendation of the Library Board that
Santa Monica become a participant in the Universal Borrowing
provisions of the California Library Services Act.
BACKGROUND
The California Library services Act was signed into law by
Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in 1978. The Act contains two
programs designed to encourage public libraries to loan materials
to library patrons who are not residents of their communities,
"Equal Access" and "Universal Borrowing." The library as a
member of the Metropolitan cooperative Library System (MCLS) now
participates in "Equal Access", which reimburses us for direct
loans made to holders of library cards from libraries in MCLS. A
direct loan is a loan to an individual who comes into the library
to check out materials.
Under "universal Borrowing" the library would extend direct loan
privileges to eligible borrowers from all public libraries in
California. In practice, most of our new borrowers would be
residents of neighboring areas, such as Malibu and Marina del ~--~
Rey, served by the Los Angeles County Library System, which does V O~81
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not belong to MCLS. Libraries in these communities are loaning
materials to Santa Monica residents, because L. A. County
participates in "Universal Borrowing.1I
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Direct loans are reimbursed on a net basis, that is, we are paid
for the number of loans we make over the number of loans made to
our residents by other libraries. Our annual reimbursements in
the five year period before the Main Library closed averaged
$79,100.
Should we participate in "Universal Borrowing" we would receive
further reimbursements for the net loans we now make to
non-resident borrowers from libraries outside MCLS who qualify
for a Santa Monica library card by working, going to school, or
owning property in Santa Monica, as well as additional
non-resident borrowers who previously did not qualify for a Santa
Monica card. We estimate the new revenue will be $6,400 per
year, and that it will gradually increase to $l2,000. We will
also lose the revenue we make selling $25 library cards to
non-residents, estimated when Main is open to be $3,700 per year.
ADVANTAGES
There are two advantages to be gained from participation in
Universal Borrowing. First, the City can realize greater revenue
than it is currently receiving for serving non-residents, as
explained above. The second advantage will be improved public
relations and reduced strain on the Library's circulation staff.
The present system of issuing library cards on the basis of
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jurisdictional boundaries sometimes results in unpleasant scenes
at the registration desk. Most library users are accustomed to
unrestricted access to libraries, and they do not understand why
Santa Monica refuses them service. The two large systems in our
area, Los Angeles city and Los Angeles County, participate in
Universal Borrowing, as do 20 of the 29 MCLS libraries.
The only potential disadvantage is the impact of the additional
borrowers who may use the library. Currently, only 1% or 15,000
of all loans are made to non-residents who are not from MCLS
libraries. We estimate that loans to this group will gradually
increase under Universal Borrowing, perhaps to 30,000. However,
this small increase will have little impact on our overall
service.
LIBRARY BOARD ACTION
The Library Board at its regular meeting of October 2l, 1987
voted to recommend to the City Council that Santa Monica
participate in Universal Borrowing.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve Santa Monica's
participation in the Universal Borrowing provisions of the
California Library Services Act.
Prepared by: Carol A. Aronoff, City Librarian
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