SEAL BEACH : Leisure World Tries to Buy County Library

Leisure World representatives made a written proposal Friday to purchase the county library now serving the retirement community’s 8,700 residents. The library has been targeted for closure by the cash-strapped county.

Seal Beach Mayor George Brown, a Leisure World resident, said the community’s governing Golden Rain Foundation is offering an undisclosed amount for the building, books and land. Brown said about 98% of the library’s users are Leisure World residents.

“The library is on property that originally belonged to Leisure World,” Brown said. “Now that they are going to abandon it, we feel it’s reasonable that they sell it back to Leisure World again.”

If the 22-year-old library were closed, it would be difficult for many of the patrons to travel to the Mary Wilson Library in downtown Seal Beach, Brown said.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a plan on April 4 that would close the Leisure World Library in June, along with five other branches. Supervisors are scheduled to take a final vote May 9, after the plan is reviewed by the Orange County Department of Education and the Orange County League of Cities.

The Laguna Hills Leisure World operates a small library, but that facility is privately owned and it has not been affected by the county’s financial crisis.

Brown said county officials have expressed initial interest in the purchase, which would also require approval of the 18-member Golden Rain Foundation Board. The foundation has sufficient cash reserves to purchase the property, according to Brown.

“I’ve gotten hundreds of comments from the residents here who want to save the library,” Brown said. “We’re very optimistic that we can.”