WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Library to Stay Open With Volunteer Staff

They were saved from the worst. Now supporters of Westlake Village’s public library have to forge ahead with second-best.

Instead of closing the library, county officials have agreed to keep it open four days a week, using volunteer labor to help operate it.

Last month, Los Angeles County proposed closing down half of its 87 libraries--including the one in Westlake Village--to make up a budget shortfall. The proposal drew protests from all quarters, especially from city officials in Westlake Village, where a new branch had opened just four months earlier with a $300,000 contribution from city coffers.

But thanks to a last-minute commitment of $3.5 million from the County Board of Supervisors, starting Monday all the libraries will be kept open on reduced hours, two days a week in many cases, through January. Hours at the Daniel K. Ludwig Library in Westlake Village will be cut from 40 per week to 28, the result of a compromise between city and county officials.

Supervisor Ed Edelman said the fact that the city had contributed money to the library and offered volunteers to help staff it were factors in the decision to keep it open.

City Councilwoman Bonnie Klove said she has mixed emotions about the compromise, but added that 28 hours are better than none. Klove said the city so far has had some difficulty recruiting volunteers, but she predicted that more will be available when the summer vacation season ends.

Evelyn MacMorres, regional administrator of the libraries, said the scheduled new hours will be 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday.