Ventura County Library
Ventura County Library is a free public library system of 12 community libraries and a museum library in Ventura County, California, organized in 1916. At the time of its centennial in 2016, the system provided access to 412,715 physical volumes and more than 500,000 virtual items to its nearly 300,000 card holders.
The Ventura County Library serves and issues library cards to all residents of the county, and to others living elsewhere in California upon request.
Branches
The Ventura County Library consists of 12 libraries and one Mobile Library. There are three locations in Ventura, and one each in El Rio, Fillmore, Meiners Oaks, Oak Park, Oak View, Ojai, Piru, Port Hueneme and Saticoy. The Research Library of the Museum of Ventura County also participates in the county's system-wide online catalog. The Mobile Library travels throughout Ventura County.Albert H. Soliz Library, El Rio
The Albert H. Soliz Library serves the unincorporated community of El Rio, north of Oxnard. In 1991 it was posthumously named for local leader Albert H. Soliz, who volunteered with youth and education-oriented organizations in the community.Avenue Library, Ventura
The Avenue Library, on Ventura Avenue in west Ventura, occupies the lower floor of an historic landmark, "Casa de Anza," one of the few remaining brick buildings in the city from the 1920s.The Avenue Library features a public art mural, "Portrait of a Neighborhood", by Catherine Day, an art instructor at Ventura College. This colorful mural wraps around three walls of the library and depicts scenes from the Chumash and mission era to contemporary street scenes and commemorates the designation of one of Ventura's oldest neighborhoods, the Simpson Tract, as a historic district.
The library has a computer lab and Homework Center, a copy machine, and a magnifying machine for people with low vision. The library has a collection of books and movies for both children and adults in Spanish. There is a small collection of the history of Ventura Avenue and West Ventura.
The library participates in the County Library's Summer Reading Program, and the El Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros in late April and the Fall Fun Day in late October are popular annual activities at the Avenue Library.
E. P. Foster Library, Ventura
The public library in Ventura joined the new County Library in 1916. The E. P. Foster Library opened in 1921 at its present location thanks to generous donations from Eugene Preston Foster and his wife, Orpha Mae Foster, who donated funds for a building that originally housed both the public library and city hall. The library building was constructed on what had been the property of the noted horticulturalist, Theodosia Burr Shepard. In 1959, new construction was fronted onto the original brick library that more than doubled the size of the library. In 1999, the library closed for several months for a major renovation that updated the infrastructure and opened the second floor for public access and service.The Foster Library has expanded children's services on the second floor. There are early literacy classes and a Paws for Reading program which pairs children with trained dogs that the children can read to. Special adult collections include self-help law, a songbook and hymn book collection, and a job and career collection. The library collects heavily in cook books, creating and running a small business, as well as local, California and Western US history. The library is expanding its Spanish language collections for adults, and has a growing DVD collection. There is a large print collection. In addition to the adult fiction collection, Foster Library has separate collection for mysteries, science fiction, short stories and westerns.
The Topping Room, named after a previous County Librarian, Elizabeth Russell Topping, is available to groups in the community for public meetings for a charge. The room has tables and chairs, a projection screen, and rest rooms.
Fillmore Library
The library in Fillmore first joined the county library system on February 4, 1916. The branch offers resources and services including books, computer and wi-fi access, and early literacy programs.Hill Road Library, Ventura
Hill Road Library opened in December 2017 in a 5,100 square foot facility near the Ventura County Government Center. The east side of Ventura had been without a branch library since the 2009 closure of the H.P. Wright Library near Ventura College amid budgetary shortfalls. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved funding for this new branch library in the summer of 2016. The new library features traditional library services, such as literacy tutoring, training classes, and a collection of print materials. It is also the site of pilot program allowing adult patrons to access the library up to two hours before staff arrive by using their library cards to enter the building and check out materials.Meiners Oaks Library
Meiners Oaks Library, known then as the Matilija Library, joined the new Ventura County Library system in 1917 at the invitation of the first County Librarian, Julia Steffa. By the 1930s the library had outgrown its school location, changed its name to Meiners Oaks Library and moved into half of a military barracks.Though tree-shaded, quaint, and conveniently located, the little library had inadequate lighting and heating and no water. The library moved to a new location in 1958 and again to an even larger building with a rear garden at 114 N. Padre Juan Avenue in 1974.
Mobile Library
While the current Mobile Library was established in 2019, the original concept comes from the first Mobile Library in California, which also began in Ventura County. In 1924, Elizabeth Topping travelled by horseback to provide books. The Mobile Library now serves as outreach and provides Wi-Fi access and several other library services.Museum of Ventura County Research Library, Ventura
The Research Library of the Museum of Ventura County holds books and archival materials related to the history of the county and surrounding regions. Its holdings are catalogued in the Ventura County Library system and the Central Coast Museum Consortium, and the library is open to the public.Oak View Library
The Oak View Library is located in the Oak View Park and Resource Center, which is a success story of a Community Works Project. The community of Oak View, through the efforts of local public and private organizations, grants, and individual donations, helped purchase and develop a former school property for public nonprofit use. The Oak View area assessment district voted a self-imposed tax to fund and sustain the project.The Center is in the heart of Oak View with a playground, sports field, and buildings built in the "Ojai Scenic" style that embodies a love of natural light and art deco influences. Some of the services offered at the Center include the Oak View Library, Boys & Girls Club, Oak View Teen Center, Ojai Birth Resource and Family Center, and Smart Start Child Development Center.
Oak View Library offers a computer lab with word processing, Internet access, and black & white printing capability, a self-serve copy machine, wireless Internet access. A Homework Center, funded by the Ojai Valley Friends and Foundation helps young people Monday through Thursday from 3 to 5:30 pm. Collections include material of high-interest for children and teens, as well as popular, mystery and large print fiction for adults, a small selection of books on audio CD and a large collection of books on audio-cassette, a selection of DVDs and videocassettes, and a selection of Spanish-language materials for children and adults. In addition, the library has a collection of popular magazines and newspaper subscriptions to the Ventura County Star and the Ojai Valley News.