There is no organization in Santa Barbara that is as all-encompassing in terms of meeting the needs of the community than the Santa Barbara Public Library.
Resource navigation is a core library service. Community members can obtain assistance in identifying vital community resources to meet their needs, with a focus on housing, health, nutrition, employment, and education. “By expanding capacity to provide effective social service assistance, SBPL endeavors to build resilience and improve the health and well-being of the Santa Barbara community.” (library.santabarbaraca.gov/library-services/community-connections)
It is a well-known fact that until people’s basic needs are met — food, clothing, shelter, and job security — they are not free to reach their full potential. Likewise, the library as an institution needs its basic needs met. It is difficult for the library staff to provide the best while the construction projects now underway, including the elevator and staff work area, linger way past their projected deadlines; while library staff feel less than secure when they are on the front lines dealing with some challenging patrons that come into the library; and while their budget is cut year after year. We are thrilled the city council provided the money to keep the library open more hours, but the circulation budget has been cut, and I can imagine library staff will be asked to make further cuts in the coming fiscal year.
The library should be funded to the point that they don’t need to go through the budget with a fine-toothed comb every year to find areas to cut. This is inexcusable, especially since the majority of its programs are funded through grants that the library staff secures, and since the city isn’t responsible for the entirety of its funding.
We realize affordable housing and public safety are essential, but so is our public library. I would like the library to be recognized for the interventions they are offering to people on a daily basis: from literacy services and finding job opportunities, to offering WiFi inside and outside the building and programs and classes for all ages, plus a multitude of other services.
Our library is so much more than a place to check-out books and a site that allows people perhaps without a home to come in and avail themselves of the library’s services. The library’s Faulkner Gallery, for example, houses library and community events plus local art exhibitions for all to enjoy. And, I invite you to spend time at the Eastside branch, where on Wednesday afternoons, you will find adults tutoring children in reading, children reading to Smith the dog, young children playing with manipulatives, library staff meeting with adults one on one to help them with their needs and to navigate the computer, families checking out books together, adults and children participating in a weekly craft, and others sitting peacefully out in the patio. Don’t miss out on any library programming. Just go to the library’s homepage, and sign up for its weekly digital newsletter that will inform you of all that is happening at the library.
The only solution for dependable library funding is to pass a tax measure that will insure its funding from year to year. The library is an essential service to our community and provides interventions that save money and resources down the road. Our public library is truly an investment worth making now.
Barbara Cronin Hershberg is president of the Friends of the Santa Barbara Library.