Supervisors today decided all the hassle over a $5 an hour
charge for a library room isn’t worth it.
Supervisors today decided all the hassle over a $5 an hour charge for a library room isn’t worth it.
They unanimously agreed to drop the recently implemented fee – part of a wider plan to add revenue that included increased book fines – after County Librarian Nora Conte requested that three groups should get to use the Barbara Room free of charge.
Conte had asked that the Friends of the Library, Gavilan College’s English as a second language program and a tax-assistance program all be exempted from the fee.
She told supervisors those groups are part of the San Benito County Free Library’s team and in a staff report she had noted how she is “greatly concerned” about it potentially being an “impediment to successfully continuing services.”
But a representative from the U.S. Census Bureau took the podium and asked if that organization – which has used the Barbara Room in the past – also could be exempt from the charge. She pointed out how the federal government prefers not to write $5 checks because it costs more than that to process them.
Supervisors followed up by agreeing to drop the charge altogether.
The room is available 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. It also is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the discretion of the county librarian.
