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Westland Area Library hours to be restored
Customers will see extended hours at both the Grove City Library and Westland Area Library by the end of the month.
The Southwest Public Libraries Board of Trustees voted at the Jan. 11 meeting to restore library hours, effective Jan. 31.
In November voters approved a 10-year, 1-mill property tax levy for the library system to replace funds lost since 2001 and reinstate many library services cut over the past decade. As promised during the levy campaign, hours of operation will be restored to 2009 levels.
New library hours are as follows:
Monday - 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Tuesday - 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Wednesday - 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday - 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday - 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday - 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Library director Mark Shaw said, "Beyond that, we'll leave the hours alone until we see what happens with our funding from the state. There are no plans for Sunday hours at this time."
Library leaders are making plans for other restorations as well, but are still being conservative, in large part because of uncertainty as to what can be expected from the state budget later this year.
Funding from the November levy will generate $2.5 million the first year bringing the library's total budget to approximately $5.7 million before state cuts. The library will collect money from the new tax beginning in February.
"This will allow us to reinstate many services and we can plan for the next several years without considering additional sacrifices to our hours, materials and programming," Shaw said.
Customers can expect to see new books and videos, additional programming, staff, and building improvements as the year progresses.
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