Purpose

The Ad Hoc committee was created by the County Board of Supervisors to address persistent budget challenges and funding requests needed to keep libraries open. The Committee's task is to outline a path to achieving a sustainable and equitable finance and governance system for county libraries.

Members 

1. 1. Supervisor Das Williams, District 1

   2. Supervisor Joan Hartmann, District 3

   3. Jessica Cadiente, Library Director, Santa Barbara Public Library

   4. Sarah Bleyl, Library Director, Lompoc Public Library

   5. Dawn Jackson (2022), Joanne Britton (2021), Mary Housel (2018-2020), Library Director, Santa Maria Public Library

   6. Allison Gray, Director, Goleta Valley Library

   7. Patricia Saley, representing friends of the libraries

   8. Judith Dale, representing the Library Advisory Committee Member

   9. George Chapjian, Director, Community Services Department

Facilitators

LegacyWorks Group: Carrie Kappel, Ellen Kwiatkowski, Megan Miley

Guiding Principles

• All residents in Santa Barbara County deserve access to library services

• Service levels vary by community needs and library type (see library categories)

• Equity requires consideration of population and other issues

• Core operations should be funded by public revenue sources (county, cities, taxes). Friends, foundations, volunteers, grants and public-private partnerships should be activated for expanded services

• Libraries should have secure and sufficient resources to meet community needs

• Support services provided by main libraries (services, programs, curriculum and more) enhance branch libraries

• Library decisionmaking should enable flexibility for library directors as well as transparency, accountability and opportunities for input from the community

• Increased collaboration and coordination in terms of budgets, library organization and programming will have systemwide benefits

Adopted 4/30/2019

Phases of Work 

Archive of Meeting Materials