Library Cutting Friday Hours to Save Money

The Joliet Public Library will stay open one hour later on Saturdays but four hours less on Fridays in a cost-saving measure needed to help balance the 2013 budget.

Starting Jan. 1, the new hours at the main downtown library and the Black Road branch will be 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The current hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday remain in effect until Dec. 31.

Deputy Library Director Kevin Medows, who will become director on Jan. 1, says the schedule change will save more than $40,000. Admittedly not a huge amount, he said, but enough to help reduce the bottom line in the $6.1 million budget, which also kicks in Jan. 1.

Medows said small cuts were made throughout the budget, especially in terms of electronic resources spending. The recently approved spending plan has a small contingency fund, and there are other things that can be cut during the course of the year if overruns occur, he said.

"We looked at each and every expense," Medows said. "We made various tweaks."

The library does twice annual head counts to see how many people are using the two libraries at any given time, he said.

"(Cutting Friday hours) was kind of a no-brainer as compared to other times," Medows said.

While the budget is lean this year, and most users won't see many changes beyond the reduction in hours, next year may prove more challenging if more cuts need to be made, he said.

An improved 2013 economy would help the financial picture, since commercial and residential growth in Joliet would generate more tax income, but that's something that every government wants and over which the library has no control, he said.

"Economic development is something we definitely want," Medows said.

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