City manager to ask council to restore Fairview and Ocean Park library hours; board hears community mapping results

Santa Monica — The library board was told the city manager will present a plan to the City Council on Oct. 28 to reinstate full‑service hours at the Fairview and Ocean Park branches, with a target to add a third full‑service day as early as January if the plan moves forward.

Erica, the board’s secretary, said the city manager "reinforced the news" during a staff in‑service and that "we will be moving toward reinstating hours at Fairview and Ocean Park, full service." She added the branches currently operate two days in a self‑service model and the proposal would convert two of those days to full service and add a third day; she said anticipated daily hours would match other branches, "12 to 8." The board was told the plan will go to council on Oct. 28 and that further expansion of days or hours could be considered in July.

Erica also presented results from the library’s community mapping work, reporting that staff received "over 1,100 responses" to the survey and followed up with focus groups and community conversations. She said staff will spend the next month analyzing responses and compiling themes, then share a report back to the public and include key findings in the November newsletter.

Board members and staff described the in‑service day as a morale and planning event attended by about 85 staff; Audrey Barbicoff led a session on co‑designing library services with community input. The city manager met with staff and answered questions for roughly 40 minutes, according to Erica.

Other business at the meeting included routine approval of the Sept. 11 minutes. Member Meister moved to approve the minutes, Member Spears seconded, and Chair Newman, Member Meister and Member Spears voted yes; the motion carried 3–0.

The board reviewed a draft of its annual report prepared by the city clerk’s office that looks back at the last fiscal year and sets a work plan for the current fiscal year (July 1–June 30). No action was required; staff will return an updated draft to the board in November for final approval and submission to the city clerk’s office and then to City Council in January.

On appointments, staff opened the application period for the next poet laureate and requested a volunteer from the library board to serve on the selection committee. Current poet laureate Anne Carmack will participate on the panel; the new tenure begins in March.

The meeting closed after a brief update from the community mapping ad hoc committee, which said neighborhood meetings showed enthusiasm for reopened branches and neighborhood programming despite variable turnout.

The board did not take further formal action; the key next steps are the Oct. 28 Council presentation on branch hours and a November return of the annual report draft to the board.