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 (added in 2019). There are three locations in Ventura (Foster, Avenue, and Hill Road), 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.