By Kelly Youngblood
The Champaign Public Library will expand its schedule soon, bringing back some of the hours that were reduced two years ago due to budget cuts.
The Champaign Public Library Board of Trustees approved a budget at their May meeting that included adding back four of the seven hours that were reduced at the Main library in 2015. It also included bringing back the four hours that were cut at the Douglass Branch.
“In essence, of the seven hours that were cut in 2015, Main Branch is recovering four of those hours,” said Brittany Micahels, Deputy Director of the Champaign Public Library.
The Main Branch will stay open until 9 p.m. on Thursday evenings instead of closing at 6 p.m., and on Sunday, the library will open an hour earlier at noon instead of 1 p.m.
Douglass Branch is recovering all four of the hours that were reduced in 2015 and will be open on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 8 p.m., instead of closing at 6 p.m.
Michaels said the goal is to implement the new schedule at the start of the school year.
The library board’s decision to reduce hours in 2015 was part of a cost-saving plan that included voluntary buyouts for eligible employees. The move followed a series of staff cuts in recent years.
The library’s funding — through property taxes — had essentially been flat for the better part of a decade, and rising expenses forced cutbacks, including reduced hours.
Michaels said an increase in property level assessments allowed the library to add back the hours previously cut.
“In general feedback, everybody has been very excited and supportive and I think people are really thrilled that their library is able to kind of move back into some hours and some services and things like that that it had previously,” Michaels said.
In addition to more hours, the library is also looking at bringing in more staff and possibly new programming.
“It’s really exciting. Anytime that you’re able to add back those hours, of course it comes with the potential to add staff, so that’s something else that we’ve been looking into and have put into our budget to fill those position that have been vacant for awhile,” Michaels said.
“I think that the community will definitely benefit not just form the library being open but then that means that potentially more resources and services like programs for families and kids can now be available on Thursday evenings,” she added.
For more on the Champaign Public Library, see our post Five Things You Might Not Know About the Champaign Public Library.