Governmental bodies are rarely known for being nimble, but two fledgling entities — the Isla Vista Community Services District and the Goleta Library System — seem to be partnering quite nicely as the Goleta City Council calls the tune. On Tuesday, presented with four options to spend $200,000 that Assemblymember Monique Limon had secured for library services in Isla Vista, the council chose Option 4 ¾.
As library director Allison Gray and her staff talked with various Isla Vistans about a library, they learned that some wanted a branch they could call their own (Option 3 on the council’s staff report), while others wanted a mobile library that could visit I.V.’s varied neighborhoods (Option 4). As always, money was a sustained and problematic note in the conversation.
But Spencer Brandt, president of the IVCSD, intends to sweeten the option, noting that it contained $25,000 to rent a space that he aims to persuade his board to offer for $1 a year. “A partnership will save about $25,000 in facilities costs,” he told the Independent, adding that the county already gives a $7.80 library fee for each of the 26,000 Isla Vistans, amounting to another $200,000 in funding for Isla Vista library functions.