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Hi Chrystie-

A good question, but not an easy one to answer. Over the years I have heard more discussions between staff, trustees and public regarding library hours and what are the best times and days to be open. Obviously this becomes more of an issue if you are a small library that can only be open say 10 to 20 hours per week. With limited hours it's hard to please everyone, so what should you do?

In order to meet the Department of Libraries "Minimum Standards for Vermont Public Libraries 1998" libraries are required to be "open for service to all ages throughout the year at least 14 hours a week, including at least 4 hours after 5 pm or on weekends (Saturdays or Sundays). Deciding on what days are hours to choose can of course be difficult, but here are some things to consider

---try to coordinate the hours and days of the week you plan to be open with other libraries in your service area. For example if a public library near you is open on Tuesday but not on Wed., then you might want to have your library open on a Wed. and not on a Tuesday in order to offer you area better library service.

---do people in your community come into town on a particular day or time of day to transact their business? If so, make sure your library is open on the same day and time of day.

---if the library is located near the public school, choose a time of day that is convenient for students and parents to have access to the library.

---try and make the hours that you are open as consistent as possible. For example, if your library is open Tuesday and Thursday in the afternoon make it the same time 1-5 on both days and not 1-5 on one day and 12-4 on the other. Keep it simple and consistent and it will be easier for people to remember the hours that your library is open.

--consider seasonal hours only if you live in a community that has a large summer or winter population.

--take a look at your community and consider what's best for them. For instance, do most people commute to work, or does the community consist mostly of retirees, and how about families, etc. Knowing your community their needs will make it easier to decide what are the best times and hours for your library to be open

-to survey or not to survey is often a difficult question. While surveys can be helpful they can be time consuming and may not in the end prove all that useful. Town meeting is often a good time to conduct an informal survey, which will also give you the opportunity to talk about other library business.

Hope my comments have been helpful and would like to see other people respond to this question.

Michael

In Plainfield, VT we are open 21 hours per week and have played with several different combinations of hours over the years. When I started here the hours were a little harder to remember and work. They were spread out with a few here and there and one long day from 10am to 8pm. Now, we are open Mondays from 9-3, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-6 and Saturdays from 9-12. These three six hour stretches are easy for patrons to remember and the Saturday hours make us available to folks on the weekends. We have both morning and afternoon hours to accomodate preschool families, seniors, and the after school and work crowd. They have worked well for us and do not change with the seasons. We are occasionally open for programs on Sunday afternoons in the winter and those hours are promoted through signage and through the local newspaper. Patrons are welcome to check out books before and after programs.

These hours also allow me to work other jobs to supplement my library income.
Jane

We are open 15 hours/week:

M 1-6
W 6-8
Th 9-12; 6-8
Sa 9-12

We added a few hours a number of years ago. We tried to scatter the hours in order to reach more of our community. The other things we took into consideration at the time were when did groups meet at the library (Before we got a new Town Hall, the Planning Board, Conservation Committee, Trustees, Friends, & a Snowmobile club all met at the library) the keep the costs of keeping the building open (electricity, heat) to a minimum. The hours we have seem to work for our community.

Hi-
I read your email with interest and understand that trying to please
everyone with the best times and days to have the library open can
be difficult. This is especially true when you are a library with only one
full-time and one part-time employee.

Some of the public libraries in my region have been lucky enough
to get help through the ABEL program. ABEL is a federally funded
program that is designed to get low income seniors on fixed income and
with limited employment experience trained and back into the workforce.
Over the years I've had a couple of ABEL people working here and was
very happy with the results. If you are interested in the program you can
contact the Barre office of Employemnt and Training at 802-476-2600
or 1-800-983-2300 and just tell the person you would like to speak
with a ABEL representative.

You mentioned that Tuesdays is a pretty slow day, so I wondered if you
have considered closing on a Tuesday, or whichever of your days is the slowest
and opening up Saturdays for 4 hours. Maybe you could rotate your Saturdays with
your part-timer. Just a thought.

Michael

A consistent schedule that people can remember is great. But closing the library at 5 pm every day except Monday and not being open on weekends means that people who work, pay taxes, and vote do not have many opportunities to use your library. Have you tried opening a little later in the day, say 10 am, and closing at 6 pm?
Marianne