Verizon donates $25K for books

Telephone giant Verizon donated $25,000 to the Camarillo Library's "Next Chapter" fundraising campaign during last week's Camarillo City Council meeting at city hall.

Gene Eng, a Verizon spokesman, presented Mayor Mike Morgan with the check that will be used to help stock the 65,000-square-foot library expected to open by late February 2007.

"It (the money) will go towards the purchase of books for the opening day collection of the new Camarillo Library which, from everything I've seen and heard about, is going to be a tremendous asset to this community," Eng said.

Started in September, the fundraising campaign is a city-sponsored charity drive that's expected to raise $1 million for 40,000 books to stock the new library.

Since it began in September, the campaign has raised $608,487, according to city officials.

To meet state-set requirements for public libraries, the city eventually wants the library to hold more than 225,000 books and other materials.

-Daniel Wolowicz