Public libraries in Clallam County will expand their hours beginning Monday.
More convenient hours had been the most common request of users of public libraries in Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay, said Paula Barnes, director of the North Olympic Library System, which oversees the four libraries.
Providing more convenience meant different things in different libraries, she said.
In Sequim and Port Angeles, it meant eliminating the confusion about whether the library is open Monday nights or Tuesday mornings.
In Forks, it meant having library hours for full days Saturdays, while in Clallam Bay, the change means having the library open Tuesdays, Barnes said.
New hours are:
■ Port Angeles and Sequim libraries — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
■ Clallam Bay Library — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.
■ Forks Library — 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
The change was made possible through the revenues of a levy lid lift that voters approved in 2010, Barnes said.
The measure, which won 59.1 percent support from 24,101 voters, restored the library system’s property tax levy rate from 33 cents to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
That was the amount that voters had approved in 1978, the last time the library system had sought a levy rate increase.
Plan executed
Restoring and expanding service hours was a key component of the library system’s 2012 business plan, Barnes said.
When Clallam County voters approved the levy lid lift, the plan was put into effect and the system began preparing to restore and fill staff positions that had been lost over the years to budget cuts.
The original goal was to expand hours as early as possible in 2012.
“We were excited to actually have the necessary staff on board and trained by mid-December,” said Meghan Tuttle, who chairs the library board of trustees.
“Even though the business plan is called NOLS 2012, why wait until 2012 to give people what they want if we’re able to do it sooner?”
In Port Angeles and Sequim, the schedule is similar to those of the 1970s to 1990s, before new state laws put limits on library funding and shortened library hours.
At the Forks branch, there has been a long-standing community demand for Saturday hours.
For many years, Forks staff members voluntarily adjusted their schedules to offer abbreviated hours Saturdays during the school year.
Now, the Forks Library will be open regularly for a full Saturday year-round.
Customers of the Clallam Bay branch also will be able to enjoy Saturday hours, as well as a full-day schedule Tuesdays.
Still Sunday demand
There continues to be much public demand for Sunday hours, particularly in Port Angeles and Sequim.
“Sunday hours aren’t workable,” Barnes said.
“A seven-day schedule, even just at the Port Angeles Library, would balloon the library’s personnel costs to an unsustainable level over the long term.”
Thanks to passage of the levy, other initiatives in the library’s business plan are under way.
A full-time youth services librarian, based in Forks and serving the entire West End, is planning and presenting programs and services for kids and teens.
A nonprofit library foundation that will help fund programs and capital improvements is being formed.
And more new books and other materials, including e-books, are being added to the library’s collections.
For more information about the new library schedule or the NOLS 2012 business plan, visit www.nols.org or contact Barnes at 360-417-8525 or PBarnes@nols.org.
