Take a look at that hybrid car driving past your favorite gas station — while you are a frequent filler-upper watching gas prices soar. Some innovative car companies reinvented themselves by anticipating needs. Oil prices skyrocketed and the hybrid was born. Now look at your local library. Really look. It may look the same from the outside, but open the door and see “how many more miles to the gallon” that inner space is getting today. Today’s San Diego libraries are a better success story than hybrid cars. University City Community Library was born in a storefront in the Marketplace Shopping Center on the west end of Governor Drive, where the Tuesday Morning resides next to Henry’s. Children used to frequent that temporary library home in hopes of eventually having a real library. Now the library at 4155 Governor Drive is a popular spot for all ages and all interests. A library is no longer just a place to check out books and flip through newspapers and magazines. Just look at what this library provides. The UC library provides free online homework help every day from 1 p.m. to close. On Feb. 22, senior citizens came to a computer class to get themselves on the right side of the digital divide, and a UC book club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month and all are welcome. The library also offers preschool storytime, crafts for kids and a teen writing workshop. “Game On” is an event that gives youngsters a chance to play video games, and each month head librarian Sharon Thomerson books talent for free concerts. Musician Dean Ratzman recently performed a variety of hits from great American artists to an enthusiastic audience. What is missing from this reinvented library, “the heart of the community,” as painted by Gail Conners as part of the University City Community Association’s transformer box art project? The slashed hours hurt the community — especially the children. “The UC library has a meeting room that is well-used by organizations like the community association and Friends of the Library. If the mayor and the City Council continue to slash hours for the library, they are slashing the community connection,” Conners said. When the little library on Governor Drive closes on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., it is locked until Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. A hybrid car can’t run without a battery and a community can’t run well without a library. When the city budget is brought forth, will the libraries take another hit? Should communities rise up and demand this core service? No lobbyists will represent the children who need a library today more than ever. No consultants who shop at bookstores will see the importance of keeping libraries open more. A politician recently answered the concern of a UC resident who mentioned the closing of Swanson Municipal Swimming Pool for three months, the shortening of rec center hours and the library. He said if we have a choice between a cop on the street and the library, he would choose the cop. However, I once heard a high-ranking police officer say it is wrong to take from the library, park and rec budget to give to police because those services are also deterrents to crime. The word hybrid comes from the Latin word meaning “offspring of a tame sow and wild boar.” Perhaps that is what is needed today, a hybrid attitude of an engaged, gentle mother and a fired-up dad fighting at City Hall to save our libraries.