For decades, Templeton residents waited for San Luis Obispo County to restore the public library they lost.
When that didn’t happened, they built one themselves.
Residents raised money, secured grants, accepted donations, recruited volunteers, and eventually opened a new library across from Templeton’s schools in 2023. Today, children browse the stacks after school, families gather for story time, and volunteers keep more than 15,000 books and other materials circulating through a community that has gone nearly half a century without a county-operated library.
Now, the Templeton Community Library Association is saying it can no longer keep things running on volunteer labor alone.
“We’re asking for some operational funds because otherwise we are on the weekends fundraising and doing … multitasking,” Templeton Community Library Association President Melinda Reed told New Times.
The nonprofit library is asking San Luis Obispo County to redirect roughly $318,000 in annual library tax revenue generated within the Templeton Community Services District to help cover staffing, utilities, maintenance, and other operating expenses. The nonprofit argues that the request represents less than 3 percent of the county’s approximately $13.5 million library budget and would simply return tax dollars that Templeton residents already pay.
County officials said they can’t.
A report by the county’s Library Ad Hoc Committee concludes that California law prohibits transferring dedicated county library tax revenue to a private nonprofit library and recommends maintaining the county’s existing funding structure. The Board of Supervisors received the report on July 28.
The report states that redirecting the funding “would create a net harm to the county library system, including the potential for longer wait times for requested materials, fewer available books and digital resources, and reduced library hours of operation.”
The dispute stretches back more than four decades.
According to Reed, Templeton’s first library was built in 1915 by the Women’s Club before becoming part of SLO County’s library system. The county closed the branch in 1979 following Proposition 13 budget cuts and never reopened it.
In 2000, then Supervisor Harry Ovitt proposed a partnership in which the community would raise half the money for a new library while the county would provide the other half.
Residents spent nearly two decades fundraising until a donation from a longtime supporter put the campaign over its goal.
“We received a bequest from one of our longtime patrons … that gave us enough money that put us over the top for our 50 percent,” Reed said. “We had our money in 2019.”
But the county was unable to provide its share at that time and said there was no written documentation of that promise.
“When our community was ready, they couldn’t match the funds,” Reed said. “We were told to build the library ourselves.”
Instead of waiting, the association partnered with Templeton Unified School District to construct a modular library on district property across from Templeton schools. It opened in January 2023.
“We have been operating the library because once you build it, you need to operate it,” Reed said. “We’re very happy that we have built it, … our volunteers love the library. Our citizens seem to love the library.”
The library now operates on an annual budget of less than $80,000, supported largely through donations, fundraising, one paid employee, and volunteers. Reed said that model is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain because costs including insurance and maintenance require stable public funding.
“The donors and volunteers have built a thriving library,” the library wrote on its website. “What we cannot sustain without public funding are the basics: utilities, staffing, and long-term operational costs. These are not extras—they are the foundation of any public library.”
In a recent letter to New Times, Templeton Library Vice President Nancy Whitt said residents are effectively paying twice for library service.
“While Templeton residents continue to pay into the county’s library tax system, the Templeton Library receives no operational funding from the County of San Luis Obispo Public Libraries,” Whitt wrote. “The result is that tax dollars generated in Templeton flow elsewhere while local volunteers and donors shoulder the responsibility of keeping their library open.”
The county contends that Templeton residents are already receiving library service through the county system.
According to the Library Ad Hoc Committee report, county library cardholders with Templeton ZIP codes borrowed 21,444 physical items, placed 2,889 holds, and checked out 5,082 digital materials during the most recent reporting period. County officials have also maintained that nearby Atascadero Library, together with the county’s digital collection, adequately serves Templeton residents.
Templeton Library leaders disagree.
Reed said Templeton has grown to nearly 10,000 residents, includes a large student population, has no public transportation to Atascadero and no walkable route between the two communities. Meanwhile, Templeton Library sits across from four of Templeton Unified School District’s five schools, allowing students to visit on foot before and after class.
She also disputes the county’s circulation statistics, arguing they overstate county library use by combining first-time checkouts with renewals.
“The report states: ‘Cardholders with a Templeton ZIP code borrowed 21,444 physical items from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026,’” she wrote in comments submitted before supervisors received the report. “This statistic is misleading because it combines initial checkouts with renewals without distinguishing between them.”
According to county data, Templeton residents made 9,823 initial checkouts and 11,621 renewals from county libraries during that period. Templeton Library, by comparison, recorded 12,835 initial checkouts and 1,357 renewals.
“Our dispute is that that’s a single book by a single user, and it’s just been renewed,” Reed said. “They’re two different categories.”
Reed said separating renewals from first-time checkouts paints a different picture of how residents use the two library systems.
“What it means is that our local library is accessible,” she said. “It’s across from the school so they can return books. They bring their books back, they check out more books, and it is what you want—a vibrant, flowing … collection that is being used by the community.”
Templeton Community Services District President Navid Fardanesh told New Times the district has discussed the proposal with county officials but is not prepared to assume responsibility for operating the library without a reliable funding source.
Even if redirecting the funding were possible, he said, the proposal would likely require review through the Local Agency Formation Commission to determine whether the estimated $318,000 would be sufficient to operate the library.
Until that question is answered, Fardanesh said, the district is reluctant to commit staff resources that are already stretched thin.
“We’re not asking for a handout,” Reed said in a change.org petition. “We’re asking for the library tax dollars that Templeton residents already pay to support the library that Templeton residents built.” ∆
Reach Staff Writer Chloë Hodge at chodge@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in July 30- August 6, 2026.
