More Hours Funded at Small Libraries

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors recently approved using $4,600 in General Fund money to extend the hours of small libraries in the unincorporated areas for the next two months.

Starting this week, those libraries will each be open 24 hours a week instead of the current 16 hours.

Small libraries are defined by the county Library Services Agency as those that serve individual neighborhoods as opposed to several at once.

New schedules for the small libraries are:

* Meiners Oaks: Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.

* Oak View: Monday and Thursday, 2 to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Wednesday, 2 to 8 p.m.; Saturday 1 to 5 p.m.

* Piru: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 3 to 7 p.m.; Thursday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m.

* Saticoy: Monday through Thursday, 1 to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Some small libraries have devised additional ways to serve summer patrons.

With the help of volunteer staff, the Soliz-El Rio Library is open 47 hours a week with the following schedule: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 5 p.m.

While the Avenue Library in Ventura is funded exclusively by the city, it is open 19 hours a week with new, later summer hours. It keeps the following schedule: Monday through Wednesday, 2 to 7 p.m., and Thursday, 2 to 6 p.m.