No to Library Tax

A quiet time in the children's section of the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave.

OPINION by Betty Buginas

If you’re asked to sign a petition to support a tax measure for a new El Cerrito library, don’t just sign because you like libraries. There’s a lot NOT to like about this particular proposal, and we can do better.

You’re not deciding whether El Cerrito will have a library. El Cerrito already owns a library and the county is responsible for providing library services. 

The question is whether El Cerrito taxpayers should pay an extra tax for 30 years for a library next to Plaza BART that would in many ways be worse than the one we already have. It would be in an area that is already congested and parking-starved and will become more so as the building that would house the library and other structures replace existing parking. Nearly all of the parking within half a mile will be paid street parking.

It would be at one end of town, rather than centrally located, resulting in a longer and more hazardous trip for most people whether they are walking, biking, or driving. We would be paying for 30 years ($340 a year on a 2000-square-foot house subject to cost-of-living increases) so that the library can move from property it owns to land it does not own.

The ways people use libraries are changing. Increasingly, patrons are using their library privileges online: to access books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, music, movies, tv shows, classes, and more, and going to the library in person less. We can place holds on physical books housed anywhere in the 26-branch Contra Costa library system for quick pick up at the branch of our choice. We have use of nearby libraries, such as those in Albany and Richmond, as well. And so much of the information flow today happens outside of libraries. We simply are not as dependent on library buildings as we once were.

The county provides library services, which we already pay for through property taxes. The city’s role, if it chooses, is to supplement what the county provides. Why now, when use of library services is shifting online and people have so many other options for obtaining information, does the city feel the need for a 30-year tax to build a library three times larger than the current one, on land it does not even own? It’s a tax for a very specific need and not the city’s most pressing one. Will the city come back to ask for additional taxes for other specific projects such as repairing the pool or building a new public safety building? How many separate taxes are we willing to pay?

There are so many crucial aspects of this plan that the community did not have a say in - where our library should be, how big it should be, whether it should be on city land or not. If we’re not satisfied with the current library services, we can come up with a much better plan than this one.

Say no to signing this petition, which was designed to circumvent the 2/3 majority normally required for a new tax, and insist that library backers come up with a plan more in line with what this community wants and needs.

Betty Buginas is editor of El Cerrito Wire Facebook page, a former editor at the West County Times, and a retired teacher.