Public libraries in Washington, D.C., will operate under further reduced hours beginning March 3 in an effort to offset a projected $600,000 budget shortfall.
All of the District’s public libraries, expect the downtown Martin Luther King Jr. branch, will only be open five days instead of six. Their doors will open a half-hour earlier at 9:30 a.m., except when a 1 p.m. opening is scheduled, according to the February 11 Washington Post. In addition, 21 neighborhood libraries will stay open about four hours less per week.
The King branch will not be affected by the cuts and will remain open seven days a week without reduced hours.
Library officials said the new schedule allows branches to operate with one staff shift instead of two and reduces overtime costs when employees are off work due to illness, vacation, or jury duty.
Posted February 17, 2003.