The County said No funding - May 6, 2026

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Today TCLA met with County officials in San Luis Obispo regarding Templeton Library funding. While we appreciated the meeting, the outcome was disappointing and made clear that the County does not take responsibility for Templeton’s unique situation.  Originally they offered a 50-50 partnership to build a library, but could not match and told us to build it ourselves. 

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Templeton Library’s donors and volunteers provide programs, collections, and activities. Our challenge is operational funding for basic public library services - utilities, staffing, and long-term sustainability.

 

The County continues to believe that the Atascadero Library serves Templeton residents through digital book checkouts. We disagree. Templeton is a community of more than 10,000+ residents and a student population without public transportation, connector trail or walkable access to Atascadero. Templeton deserves a local library on school district property approved by the county, directly across from our schools. 

 

Templeton’s extraordinary population growth, the fact that Templeton residents pay library servicea taxes (5 decades) and that Templeton Library now independently provides same programs and services offered at county branches is being dismissed.

 

Questions regarding why Templeton’s county library was never rebuilt after its 1979 closure (Prop 13) received no answer.

 

The County is aware that TCSD concerns regarding costs and staffing prohibit them from activating jurisdiction to operate the library. The California State Library confirmed that volunteers are not prohibited by state law from assisting in library operations.

 

While today’s meeting did not produce progress toward operational funding, TCLA remains committed to advocating for a solution that recognizes Templeton residents’ long-standing tax contributions and the library our community built for itself when the county could not.

 

Thank you to our patrons, donors, volunteers, and supporters for continuing to stand with us. Your support is what keeps Templeton Library open, active, and thriving.

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Voice your concerns to:​

jpeschong@co.slo.ca.us

dortizlegg@co.slo.ca.us

hmoreno@co.slo.ca.us

kballantyne@co.slo.a.us​

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The County collects more than $318,000 annually from TCSD residents for library services—funds that should support Templeton Library.

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Key Facts

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• Templeton residents pay 1.6% of their property taxes for library services that currently fund 14 County branches—not Templeton Library.​

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• TCLA requested that the $318,000 collected annually from TCSD taxpayers be directed back to TCSD to operate Templeton Library locally.

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• The County has collected these funds for 47 years, since the original Templeton Library was closed in 1979.

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• Templeton deserves its own library—centrally located and within walking distance of 4 out of 5 TUSD schools.

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• In just three years, Templeton Library has outperformed comparable small County libraries in circulation, active patrons, and collection size.

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• The County library system operates on a $13.5 million budget. Templeton’s request represents less than 3%—yet reflects less than the amount of the funds our community already pays.

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• Without tax-based funding, Templeton Library is ineligible for many state and federal grants.

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• The County previously committed to a 50/50 partnership to build a new library but could not match funds when the community was ready.