Carmen Nichols, Director of Administrative Services is discussing a change in contract limiting services performed by the Camarillo Library.

As a reminder, the library has been closed since early March. Most employees have been furloughed. The remaining have been carrying out library services that can be completely virtually.

Out of 38 staff members, 30 were furloughed. The remaining 8 have been carrying out what the councilmembers are deeming “core services.”

The council is discussing which library services are core and which out of a list of optional services are most useful to continue.

Trembley asked how many people in the community generally use each of these optional services.

Library Director Antonio Apodaca said he expects about 30 people to partake in virtual programming events/services through zoom.
Virtual summer reading could reach about 1500 participants.
The adult literacy program has an average of 39 average learners and 31 tutors.

The clerk is calling a public speaker who will make their comment live.

Matt Warner (sp) said the economy has been hit very hard and the library is going to play a crucial role in rebuilding it.

“Citizens are going to need to do resume building, businesses are going to be needing loans...People are going to have emotional issues,” he said.

“I didn’t hear from the library or the city, I really think it's important that you have a plan in place, because the switch is turned back on and there's a lot of people are going to need help and the library is the perfect location.”

The council also received a comment via email.

The council ran out of time on this item so they’ll pick the discussion back up after 7:30. They’re now taking a recess until 6:30.

The council is returning to their discussion on which library services will be performed by employees while it is closed to the public.

The council is discussing the $55,900 worth of core services and then a list of optional services at additional monthly costs.

Core services include staffing the library during week days; phone, email and online chat services; library management; book drop and donation handling; summer reading programming; and website and social media content.

Optional services include virtual programming, virtual literacy coordination, virtual summer reading program, and a physical inventory of the library collection.

The council is weighing cost savings with providing jobs for the community.

“This is just a true balancing act in terms of trying to balance interests,” Trembley said.

Trembley said he now thinks they should go through each of the services one by one.