Library Hours Take Hit For Second Year in a Row

For the second year in a row, the Merrimack Public Library has taken a hit in the hours it is open each week.

Effective July 1, the library's hours will shrink by six. Last year, the long-standing 68 hour week was reduced to 60.

Library Director Janet Angus said it is disappointing to see the hours be reduced, especially when the population of the town is as big as ever.

"We try to make it not affect anything more than we can help," Angus said.

In deciding which hours to cut, she said she decided to keep the library open later into the evening on Tuesdays through Thursdays because thats when the evening programs happen. 

Angus, who began working at the library 25 years ago, said they were open 64 hours a week when she started. Then, they opened on Sundays, boosting it to 68 hours. 

Now into its summer hours, the library will be open only 51 hours a week, (the library is closed on Sunday during the summers). 

Residents in May voted against passage of the budget, meaning the town has to make do on the default budget. The library was forced to trim $83,0000 from its budget, which in part accounts for the loss in hours. Part-time staff lost hours of work time in the cut. Also taking a heavy hit is materials, Angus said.

They were forced to cut $20,000 in books, DVDs, CDs and more from what it would have brought into the library this year.

Angus said in recent years, the library had seen an increase in circulation, but last year, those numbers were down. She said the library checked out 295,000 items during the year. She didn't have the year before at her finger tips to compare it to, but the number it was a decrease, she said. In May of this year, the circulation numbers reflected 258,000 items being checked out. The fiscal year ends at the end of this month.

"I think it will go down next year, too, and I think it's due to the hours being cut back," Angus said. 

Angus said there are some Wednesdays that the sees people pull up to the library in the morning and realize its closed. She pondered aloud whether those  people return that day, or put it off for another time. The library doesn't open until 1 p.m. on Wednesdays now, it used to open at 9 a.m.

Despite the grim circumstances, all is not lost, she said. While it's disheartening to cut back, the Friends of the Library are very active, she said, and work hard to help keep the library's  special programming alive. The summer reading program starts next Wednesday and there is a full slate of evening programming coming up this summer.

The Friends pay almost half of the cost of programming, she said.

"They provide us with support that's very helpful to have," she said.

Angus noted that the Friends are actively looking for new members. Anyone interested in becoming a Friend of the Library can contact Leslie Fish at fishlesliea@comcast.net.

As they prepare to head into a new budget season in just a couple months, Angus said, she hopes to see some money come back into the budget.

"I would love to see us get some of them back," Angus said. "But unless the economy turns around, I don't think that's going to happen."