GROUP'S IDEA BEARING FRUIT : FARMERS MARKET A BOON TO LIBRARY.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

The Agoura Hills Certified Farmers Market was started by a group of residents so neighbors could socialize and take a stroll while buying flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables.

In its first year, the market has become that and more.

Friends of the New Agoura Hills Library have made the weekly Tuesday market, in the Whizins Center on Roadside Drive, a fund-raising opportunity. With the help of the property owner, Vance Moran, the organization has collected about $20,000 for a new library that members hope will soon be added to the community.

``We had talked about bringing a farmers market to the area and we'd seen others springing up,'' said Joan Yacavone, a member of the Friends organization and former Agoura Hills councilwoman. ``Vance Moran was supportive. He provides us with the electricity, insurance, cleanup. He said, `Go ahead and decide on a recipient for (the profits). I don't want the money.' We chose the library.''

Residents have been trying for years to get a new library for the region. Still serving Calabasas, Agoura Hills and surrounding communities with a 7,500-square-foot facility, the Los Angeles County library system has been unable to financially support a new, larger library.

That hasn't stopped some residents from continuing to work on a solution. In 1989, the Kanan family donated six acres to be used for a library.

Now, money to build the library and run the facility is needed. In a renewed effort to seek support from residents, members of the friends group mailed surveys to households asking them about their interest in a new library and whether they would support a tax for one.

Friends members acknowledge a farmers market isn't going to close the gap, but every dollar counts, said Chris Hendricks, president of Friends of the New Agoura Hills Library.

``Frankly, the benefit of the farmers market has really been to the community,'' Hendricks said. ``It's given the community a chance to bump elbows with neighbors.''

Besides, money has become just one of the obstacles new library advocates are facing.

Residents from Calabasas, Agoura Hills and surrounding areas first began lobbying for a larger facility in the late 1970s. But because of Proposition 13, funding dried up and the project was tabled by the county.

Since then, there have been a couple more failed attempts. And, recently, cities that originally wanted to be part of the regional library, including Calabasas and Westlake Village, are now considering building their own, which would split the resources the region gets from the county.

``We just want to know that if we raise the money and build a new library, the county will operate the thing,'' Hendricks said. ``We're pretty frustrated. We're really ready to go, but it's a political thing.''

Both Agoura Hills Mayor Fran Pavley and Westlake Village Mayor Doug Yarrow have said that bringing a library to their communities is a priority.

Hendricks, Yacavone and others hope to see a solution soon.

``We're working toward a library with the purest of intentions - so that we can get out of that little library,'' Yacavone said.

``We deserve to have a facility that will properly serve the community.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--Ran in Conejo and Simi Editions--Color in Conejo) Jack White of Simi Valley pours corn into a kettle to make his Missouri-style kettle corn at the Agoura Hills Certified Farmers Market on Tuesday. The farmers market was started by neighbors looking for an excuse to take a promenade.

(2--Ran in Conejo and Simi--Color in Conejo) A row of vegetables awaits buyers at the farmers market Tuesday.

(3--Ran in Conejo and Simi) Vendors at Agoura Hills Certified Farmers Market arrange their display tables and tend to their wares.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News