City Money to Keep Library Branch Open 4 Days a Week

The county-run library will soon be open an extra day each week, thanks to an infusion of $5,000 in city funds.

The City Council unanimously agreed this week to spend city reserve funds to keep the library open four days a week for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“The importance to our community of the municipal library well supports the expenditure of that money,” Councilman David John Shawver said. “However, I am aware, as is every member of this council, that this is a stop-gap measure.”

The library, on Katella Avenue across from City Hall, will be open on Mondays from 1 to 8 p.m. As a cost-saving measure, library service will be scaled back on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Stanton’s Friends of the Library support group has suggested that additional funds could be raised from bingo games.

Shawver said the city cannot commit to permanently funding operations of the county branch library. “This does, however, give us a five-month window where we can go out and try to reach out in the community and find other resources,” he said.

City Manager Terry Matz said he will work with county library officials to switch to the new operating hours as soon as possible.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the library will be open from noon to 6 p.m., two hours less than the current schedule. On Saturdays, the library will continue to be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library will remain closed on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.