Item A: River Road/Santa Clara Transition Project

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Library Services Current Situation There appears to be two primary neighborhood issues with respect to library services in River Road and Santa Clara. First, there are no public library facilities in either neighborhood, irrespective of the potential operating jurisdiction (city, county or special district) or status of a community member as an in-city or non-city resident. There are actually only three City library branches in all of Eugene, thus while the lack of a branch within either Santa Clara or River Road may be an issue with local neighborhood residents, there are many other neighborhoods in Eugene in similar circumstances. The nearest City library is within an approximate 15 minute drive of the two neighborhoods - the Eugene’s Bethel branch library west of Highway 99. Second, non-city residents do not have the option of using their “own” (e.g.: county) library service at all, simply because Lane County does not provide library services. The non-profit Lane Library League has promoted the idea of library district(s) in the County, and voters recently approved the formation of a library district in the Creswell community coincident with the local school district boundary. This localized service does not, however, benefit River Road and Santa Clara residents (although it may provide the seed for longer term regional options to library services). Thus, all River Road and Santa Clara residents must leave their neighborhoods to access library services, and non-city residents must incur the expense of purchasing non-resident library cards from the City of Eugene (although this is true for all non-residents wishing to use Eugene’s library facilities). A new – and small - volunteer library opened in mid-2005 on the south side of Beltline Road in the River Road neighborhood. This volunteer effort has been supported by the Lane Library League and friends of the Eugene Library and has received in-kind professional advice from City Library staff and other in-kind support. The volunteer library has also benefited from support from the two neighborhoods in the form of cash donations, in-kind assistance, and book donations. The most basic library service need and question is and will probably always remain, “where is my neighborhood branch?” Current City of Eugene library expansion plans do not identify either River Road or Santa Clara as the top priority for a new branch library (a new branch in southwest Eugene is “top- rated”), nor do long-range plans contemplate anything like a library branch in every Eugene neighborhood. In the absence of a neighborhood library branch, programs such as access provisions for special populations, or in-kind or other support for the new volunteer library, could have positive impacts with respect to actual and perceived library service levels in River Road and Santa Clara. Transition and Heritage Options Transition Options Given the lack of “direct” (exclusively in the sense of there being no Santa Clara or River Road branch library) library services in either neighborhood, transition options are limited. Option No. 1: Fee Reductions or Waivers – A fee-for-card approach mitigates tax inequity issues for non-City residents using City facilities, although it does not mitigate any “ability to pay” issues, something theoretically accommodated by a tax supported public service. “Improving” access to library services for special populations (seniors, youth) through fee reductions or waivers could be considered. Special access provisions for youth cards have been previously considered but rejected by the Eugene City Council. Advantages: Provides tangible evidence of City support for neighborhood needs; costs to the City could be relatively low; recognizes that there are special needs populations meriting special consideration 14 River Road/Santa Clara Transition/Heritage White Paper DRAFT 11-24-05 Service provider Review