PLACENTIA : Hearing Set on Cuts for Library Hours

The Placentia Library Board of Directors will hold a public hearing at 7:45 tonight on plans to reduce the days and hours of operation for the city library.

Library officials have proposed cutting the number of days the library is open from six to five and have set up two schedules, both of which include closing the library on Friday and Saturday.

Under one proposal, the library would be open noon to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The alternative, similar to the first, would change Wednesday’s hours to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The library is now open Monday through Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for a total of 56 hours. The proposed schedule would reduce the hours to 36.

The library’s budget is expected to be $330,000 less for the 1993-94 fiscal year, forcing the elimination of six positions. Library director Elizabeth Minter said the district, with just one library, has seen its budget cut $770,000 in the past four years.

The most recent layoffs follow the elimination of seven full-time positions and one part-time job earlier this year. Minter said the number of positions has dropped from 26 two years ago to 13 today.

The library has also had to grapple with a significant drop in the book budget. In 1992-93, the library spent $140,000 to purchase materials, but the 1993-94 budget only includes $30,000 for new books, an amount Minter called “essentially nothing.”

After the public hearing, the board is scheduled to vote on new hours, which would go into effect in September.