OXNARD : Renovations Close Library for 2 Weeks

The Soliz-El Rio Library is getting a facelift and will be closed for two weeks.

The library, at 2820 Jourdan St. in north Oxnard, closed Monday so workers could start renovations and maintenance work on the facility, said Trish Cavanaugh, community relations manager of the Ventura County Library Services Agency.

“We haven’t done anything with the El Rio facility in 11 years, and it’s been deteriorating rapidly,” Cavanaugh said.

During the next two weeks workers will replace the library’s linoleum floor with carpeting, paint the building, make repairs on the parking lot and build a wall next to one side of the structure, Cavanaugh said.

“The library is in a really rural area and there’s always a lot of dust coming into the building. We’re building the wall to stop the windblown dirt from damaging books and furniture,” Cavanaugh said.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors allocated $31,000 last year to renovate the library, which serves more than 8,000 patrons each year, Cavanaugh said.

The Library Services Agency conducted similar refurbishments of libraries in Meiners Oaks and Ventura last year, Cavanaugh said. There are also plans to move the Saticoy library to a new, larger location later this year, she said.

Patrons of the Soliz-El Rio branch will still be able to use its book drop to return volumes, Cavanaugh said.

The nearest libraries in the county system are the Ray D. Prueter Library at 510 Park Ave. in Port Hueneme and the Camarillo Library at 3100 Ponderosa Drive, Camarillo.