Small San Nicolas Library Is an Island Within an Island

SAN NICOLAS ISLAND â€”  Fifty-five miles off Point Mugu and an incalculable distance fromthe Library of Congress, the most far-flung library in Ventura County opens its doors six afternoons a week.

“Nobody expects this to be here,� said Fay Bruns on one of those afternoons last week, stepping up to an unmarked door in Building 151.

Outside lay San Nicolas Island, a three-by-nine-mile Navy outpost bristling with gray communications equipment and green coreopsis stalks. Inside stood the modest stacks of the island library, maintained by the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station for the about 200 military personnel, civil servants and civilian contractors who live and labor on the island.

Bruns, who works full time as a secretary for Lt. Barry S. Winkle, moonlights as keeper of the library. She takes direction from Point Mugu librarians “on the other side� and counts on island volunteers for help.

“I sort of did a little inventory last night,� Bruns said. “We have about 5,000 hardbacks and 3,000 paperbacks.�

There’s also a magazine rack with offerings that run from Guns & Ammo to Better Homes and Gardens, an Encyclopedia Britannica set, a card catalogue with 15 drawers, and a guide to the Dewey Decimal System. There is no computer, and no one can remember the last time anyone was fined for an overdue book. Island veterans estimate that the facility is at least 24 years old.

Bruns, who grew up in Huntsville, Ala., started working on the island as a civil servant six years ago “on a dare,� and quickly took to volunteering in the library. Last year, Mugu library officials formalized her position and gave her a wage for her part-time work. She figures she’ll probably stay another few years.

“You really have to be able to entertain yourself,� she said. “I have a few people who come over every night when I’m open. They just look at magazines and paperbacks. There isn’t much else to do.�

The library opens from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 6:30 p.m. on weekends, and is closed on Fridays. It competes for islanders’ attentions with a four-lane bowling alley, a weight room, a racquetball court, satellite television and a bar with a pool table. Inside pastimes are popular, since the island is regularly raked by strong, cold winds from the northwest.

“It’s a world unto itself,� said Nancy Thorne, head librarian at the Point Mugu library. “I think the nicest facility on that island is the library.�

“I expected palm trees, not dead grass,� said Seaman Stacie Kelly, 19, who was assigned to San Nicolas a year ago. Still, said Kelly, “it’s just like a little town.�

Kelly said she is a regular volunteer and lately has been using the library to explore the idea of going to college to study business. And, of course, she’s been reading recreationally as well.

“I like nonfiction,� Kelly said. “I’m reading a book now called ‘2,201 Fascinating Facts.’ . . . I read that a cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off. I love that stuff.�

Gerry Saulnier, a hospital corpsman with the Navy, was another library regular until she recently concluded an 18-month stint on the island. She remembers borrowing romance novels from Bruns by the bagful, returning for more every few weeks.

“If you say you want to get a book out, she opens special for you,� said Saulnier, who was visiting recently.

Bruns, reminded of Saulnier’s romance novels, paused and pondered for a moment.

“She probably didn’t return them then, because we don’t have that many romances here now,� said Bruns.

Further investigation revealed that Saulnier’s old romances were on a shelf in the island medical facility. At last report, Bruns was laying plans for their recovery.