Council Implored to Expand Library

The Beverly Hills City Council is now in the process of deciding whether Beverly Hills can afford the Civic Center project. If a decision is made to cut costs, I strongly urge that those cuts be made in non-essential areas. They must not be made at the expense of the library. The library is vital to our community.

The council is well aware of the urgent need for the expansion and renovation of the library. The deplorable condition of the existing facility is no secret to anyone who uses it. It is no longer large enough to serve adequately the needs of our community. We have outgrown it. That is why we were assured by the council that a new and expanded library would be built when the library gave up its parking lot.

We have always been a community whose school system has been of the utmost importance. Our library is an integral part of that educational system.

If we have to economize, let us not do so foolishly. We cannot afford to economize on the development of our children’s minds. We must not compromise the intellectual future of our children and of ourselves.

I do not believe in wasting our city’s assets. We will be doing precisely that if we do not expand and renovate our library, as had been planned, without further delay.

MARILYN SIPES

President, Friends of

the Beverly Hills Public Library