Templeton’s roughly 3,000 residents pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in county library taxes but none of that money supports the town’s own library.
Instead, the independently operated Templeton Library is facing a budget shortfall as it continues to operate without county funding, according to Melinda Reed, president of the Templeton Community Library Association.
“Templeton Library is excluded from SLO County library funding despite our residents paying the 1.6 percent tax for library services,” Reed told New Times in an email. “The county collects those dollars from Templeton residents but spends it on 14 other branches, not Templeton.”
In a Dec. 23 Facebook post, the Templeton Library announced that it was “$6,500 in the red this year,” citing fewer donations and unexpected maintenance costs.
“You can help us into the black by Dec. 31 if 100 people donate $65,” the post stated. “We are asking the county for local control of our tax dollars, waiting for word.”
Reed explained that the library is requesting that the 1.6 percent of local tax dollars that Templeton residents contribute to the county be returned to Templeton to run the local library.
The Templeton Library operates as an independent nonprofit, not a San Luis Obispo County Library branch. Historically, however, Templeton was home to one of the county’s oldest libraries. Built in 1915 by the Templeton Women’s Club, the library later became a county branch.
The county closed the Templeton Library in 1979 following the passage of Proposition 13, along with five other rural branches, Reed said.
According to the San Luis Obispo County Assessor’s Office, residents within the Templeton Community Services District (TCSD) contributed approximately $318,000 in county library taxes in 2024. That amount represents less than 3 percent of the county’s roughly $13 million library budget.
“We are not asking for a handout or funding, we are asking that the 1.6 percent library taxes that are collected from the Templeton Community Services District be directed back to the Templeton CSD for local control of Templeton library,” Reed said during public comment at the Dec. 16 San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Under California law, libraries must be taxpayer-based to receive state or federal funding. Community Services Districts (CSD) are authorized to operate libraries using local tax revenue. Reed said Templeton is requesting a tax-exchange agreement, overseen by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), that would allow the Templeton CSD to receive and administer the library funds paid by its residents.
Templeton CSD President Navid Fardanesh, said that the CSD is not involved in any negations or meetings at this time, saying it is up to the board and staff to come up with a proposal. He added that currently, no special districts in the county provide library services.
The current Templeton library building was completed in 2022 without county funds. It opened in January 2023 with donated furnishings and books.
Today, the Templeton Library operates on less than $80,000 per year with one paid staff member and a team of trained volunteers, Reed said.
Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg and 1st District Supervisor John Peschong are part of an ad hoc committee that’s reviewing county library funding and access issues in San Luis Obispo County.
“The library ad hoc committee took time to share the history of Templeton Library and discussed potential options for the future,” Ortiz-Legg said in an email to New Times. “Due to the complexity of the issue, the SLO County Executive Office is doing further investigation.”
The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for January. ∆
This article appears in 2025 Year in Review.