Would allow weeknight hours to be extended, other changes

Peachtree City’s library may end up closing one full day a week so its schedule can be adjusted to better meet patrons’ needs.

One of the biggest issues in the recently shortened library schedule has been the closing at 8 p.m. instead of 9, which affects students who come to the library to work on school projects, Library Manager Jill Prouty said.

After a brief discussion with Prouty Thursday night, the City Council said it was open to other proposals to change operating hours including the possibility of closing one day a week. Doing so would make it less confusing for patrons, many of whom have become upset when they go to the library Wednesday mornings only to learn it doesn’t open until noon under the recent changes.

It’s not likely that Sunday will be the day the library closes, because that is one of the library’s busiest days, officials said.

The operating hours change was made due to city budget cuts, which also have affected the library’s part-time personnel. The library currently has two openings for part-time library assistants and a full-time opening for a reference supervisor.

Despite the city’s hiring freeze, those positions will be filled because they are necessary to the library’s operations, City Manager Bernie McMullen said. The library is also projecting savings from some pending retirements of senior staffers who will be replaced with lower-salaried employees, McMullen added.

With the summer reading program quickly approaching, Prouty is also asking the city for an additional 20 hours to spread out among current employees to cover that popular recurring event.

The cuts have affected the library staff’s ability to hold special programs such as family night, computer classes and also has had an affect on administrative operations, Prouty said. For example, staff is probably several months behind on ordering books, but that’s a byproduct of how busy the staff is in just serving patrons, she said.

Library volunteers, meanwhile, are helping out and worked 146 hours in February, Prouty said.

Despite the cuts, the library is busier than last year, as the number of transactions per hour is up 35 percent, Prouty reported.

Mayor Harold Logsdon said he hoped the cuts in operating hours will not be permanent.

City staff will develop a recommendation and bring it back to the City Council for approval at a later date.