The Mendocino County Library Advisory Board voted Wednesday to continue exploring options for relocating the Ukiah library branch despite county staff declaring that they did not have the funds available to seriously consider a proposal to lease a larger home for the library near the site of the new Mendocino County Courthouse.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime, so I think we need to be open to the possibilities, and I think to just nix this whole idea is really foolhardy,” said Ukiah Mayor Susan Sher, who rserves on the LAB, referring to the recent announcement by county librarian Mellisa Hannum that staff would be halting discussions regarding expansion of the Ukiah branch by tabling a feasibility study.
In a report to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors last month, Hannum said there had been talk of “relocating the Ukiah branch into a new, multi-use building to be constructed near the new courthouse. It appears ownership of this new building would be split between an affordable housing developer and Mendocino Transit Authority. As presented, this move would have the library becoming a long-term, paying tenant of space potentially built to suit.”
However, she explained, “Measure O funds are used to operate and approve all library branches, (and) at this time, there is no funding to proceed with feasibility studies for the Ukiah branch, no funding to pay for an expansion, and no funding to begin paying rent for a space when the Ukiah branch has space currently allocated.”
“We’re not really asking the county for money, we’re just asking the county to be involved,” Sher said Wednesday during the LAB meeting held at the Ukiah library. “Nothing’s written in stone, we’re just trying to keep all possibilities open. The housing developer is excited about this possibility, and I know that Deputy City manager Shannon Riley has put a lot of energy into brainstorming (ideas and option for the library).”
When asked why the discussions were halted, Hannum said that “everybody was getting so excited… and the momentum was really gaining steam, and I just needed to give everybody a little bit of a reality check (in terms of how little money there is available in the budget). I wanted folks to know that we don’t have money to pay for janitorial services at a new location, and we don’t have money to pay for more staff at another location, so that’s what I was coming from.
“Looking at it from a county’s perspective, (a new building would cost us more) because we currently don’t pay a lease,” said Hannum, referring to the fact that the city of Ukiah essentially leases the current library building to the county for free. “Everybody would love, in an ideal world, to have a new building, and nobody is saying that is necessarily a bad idea; but we have to be realistic as to what can we do, and the numbers don’t support it right now.”
After Hannum’s report to the board of supervisors Feb. 24, Second District Supervisor Mulheren said she had been involved in discussions with representatives from the city of Ukiah “about a possible opportunity near the new courthouse,” and that she plans to “bring an item to the Board of Supervisors for discussion about possible relocation of the library, and maybe the District Attorney’s office.”
At the LAB meeting this week, Mulheren said she was still waiting for further meetings planned in late March, so she hoped to bring the discussion before the board of supervisors in April.
As for what the LAB should do, Sher said “I think we need to be more creative and look at the possibilities out there. We’ve outgrown this building, I think that’s pretty much the consensus, and I just wish we could be a little more expansive in our approach here.”
Sher then moved that the LAB move forward with discussions on the possible relocation of the Ukiah library, “with or without the county’s support,” adding that she hoped “we have the county’s support, but that we as a body will move forward, exploring what’s feasible for the new library, without being wedded to any one plan.” That motion was then seconded and passed unanimously.
As for the project to replace the Ukiah library’s entrance, staff reported Wednesday that the replacement materials had arrived and the branch is now scheduled to be closed next week from March 16 through March 21 for installation of the new entryway. Also, all library branches will be closed March 27 so that staff members from all of the county libraries can hold their annual meeting.
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
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