Due to a shrinking budget the audio-visual department of the Arcadia Public Library has been closed by the City Council. The Arcadia school system has been offered the films and equipment, worth approximately $100,000. The cuts in the library budget will also mean reduction in personnel and operating hours. These matters are discussed.
Anoakia School plans to relocate to another city. The Fire Department has cited the school with many violations in the past year. Last month the Department closed a group of 10 classrooms for being unsafe.
A pictorial history entitled "Arcadia: Where Ranch and City Meet" is being published by the Friends of the Arcadia Public Library. The book is written and compiled by Pat McAdam of the Arcadia Public Library and Sandy Snider of the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum.
Los Angeles Superior Court has stopped the closure of 3 mental health clinics scheduled to close until a hearing on the legality of the cutbacks can be heard.
Seven months after Chantry Flat Road was closed at night, the noise that bothered residents and the injuries from auto accidents have virtually ceased.
The school board has begun studying the proposed $17.4 million budget. It does not include salary increases. The budget includes all eight elementary schools. Depending on the election, two schools may be closed.
Area librarians agree that recessionary periods create a greater demand for library services. It is ironic that this comes at a time when libraries are hurting from budget cuts. Arcadia and Monrovia have suffered most in this regard, cutting down on personnel and new book purchases and, in Arcadia's case, closing it's audio-visual department and reducing hours.
Increases in total attendance and total parimutuel handle, compared to last season, and a decline in daily average were in evidence in figures released after the November 16 close of the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park.
Within 18 months, Arcadia Nissan, the last of the city's 3 auto dealerships, will pack up and leave town. The departure of the 3 auto dealerships will result in a loss to the city of $450,000 a year in sales tax (about 2% of the yearly city budget).
The Library Board approved a budget of $5000 to purchase more Asian reading materials. Rose Hwang, the librarian in charge of the Asian language collection said the money will buy at least 600 new books.
Library Volunteer Program participants were honored at the recent Friends of the Arcadia Public Library general membership meeting in the Mortenson Art & Lecture Room.
Edie O'Hair is in charge of the battle against overdue books at the Arcadia Library. Approximately 1,500 overdue notices are logged each month with a grand total of about 5,000 missing books.
The Friends of the Arcadia Public Library's 30th annual book sale drew larger than usual crowds, with sales amounting to more than $9000, $1000 more than sales made in 1987.
The Policeman on Campus program will be reinstated in the city's three junior high schools. The program has been inactive for two years due to Proposition 13 cutbacks The city will pay the entire cost of the program - approximately $53,000 for the school year.