Local News in Brief : Sunday Hours at Library

The Palos Verdes Library District board has voted to open the main library at Peninsula Center on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 18 to June 11.

District Director Linda Elliott said the decision was in response to a mail survey of library users on services and needs. “Very clearly, the community felt Sunday was the best time to be open,” she said. “The board felt it was a mandate from the community.”

Elliott said the library is used the most between September and June. “We could not afford to do it year-round,” she said.

Proposition 13 cut deeply into the district’s budget a decade ago, and Sunday hours were eliminated at the district’s three libraries.

Providing the additional hours at the Peninsula Center branch at 650 Deep Valley Drive will cost the district $60,000 a year--primarily salaries for 10 staff members. The board trimmed the budget for library materials and deferred some capital improvements to provide the money.

Elliott said it is not “economically prudent” to open the Malaga Cove and Miraleste libraries on Sundays. “The two have such low patronage compared to Peninsula Center,” she said.

The board, however, voted to shift to later weekday hours at Miraleste in anticipation of the possible closing of Miraleste High School, which would result in fewer students at the library. The Miraleste branch at 29089 Palos Verdes Drive East, which is now open from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, will be open from 2 to 7 p.m. starting Sept. 19.