Quite a number of Seattle Public Library branches will have their hours shortened for the next couple of months. Our neighborhood branch will be closed Fridays and Saturdays through June 4. I’m not sure when these closures began, but they’re recent. Hopefully, you didn’t show up last Friday or Saturday to find the doors locked.
Staffing is one of the issues causing the closures. According to the SPL blog:
The Seattle Public Library is scheduling intermittent branch closures at several locations through Tuesday, June 4 due to limited staffing capacity. The temporary schedule listed below is being implemented to reduce unplanned closures and provide more reliable schedules to patrons.
Several factors have impacted the Library’s staffing capacity, including changes to the Library’s minimum staffing levels and increased leave usage. Our impacted staffing capacity has led to unplanned closures, as the Library must redirect staff from one location to another if a branch doesn’t have the right number, or right mix, of staff to open and operate a building safely and with full library services. The Library is working to bring on additional staffing support. More information about impacts to the Library’s current staffing levels can be found below.
Here is the status of some nearby branches:
- Fremont Branch: Closed Fridays through June 4
- Green Lake Branch: Currently closed for seismic retrofit construction
- Montlake Branch: Closed Tuesdays and Fridays through June 4
- University Branch: No planned closures
Complete information is available here.
I think libraries need to be open and a priority to make sure that happens. If they are having a hard time staffing, is it because of lack of money to hire staff or is it because of other reasons. I know libraries are changing across the country to meet the needs of their community. Since Wallingford Library is losing their lease in 2029, maybe this is an opportunity to think about how they create a new space with room for movies, music, guest lectures and educational opportunities. Creating a historical education area with a revolving exhibit space. Create a space that works with the public school system to help students year-round with their homework and loss of learning from summer vacation. This can be a great time for the community to work with the library to create a space that everyone can enjoy from the youngest member to the oldest. I do not want to see our library disappear and it seems like the more they close for days it will look to others as they are not missed so why have them at all. We need to voice our displeasure to show the powers of be, they are missed, and we want them to be more of something than less…
From the linked blog post:
Sounds like the library had a hiring freeze due to a low budget, and it got to the point where they didn’t have enough remaining staff to maintain the previous library open hours. They’re now “making exceptions” to the hiring freeze to try and bring staffing back up to the bare minimum needed to keep the lights on.
Consider contacting your city council person to encourage budgeting enough funds for the library to provide a better level of service. Budget priorities are ultimately up to the council, and libraries should be higher on the list in my opinion.