Restoring Hours: Beginning Today All 73 Los Angeles Public Library Branches Will Be Open on Weekday Evenings

From EmpowerLA.org:

The operating hours at the City’s 73 libraries were slashed to their lowest level in the library’s 140-year history in August 2010, following cuts to the City budget. Voter approved Measure L gradually restores library service hours to the 2009 level over four years by increasing the Library’s share of City funding without new taxes. Last year, in the first phase of Measure L, all libraries re-opened on Mondays. In 2014, the final phase of Measure L, nine libraries will re-open on Sundays.
“Libraries are vital neighborhood resources,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “It pained me greatly to make the decision to reduce library hours in 2010. Restoration gets the City back on track and one step closer to fully restoring our City’s library hours. None of this would have been possible without voter support of Measure L. Thanks to the commitment of Angelenos willing to invest in one of the most important and beloved institutions in the City, I am proud to say that the future of Los Angeles looks bright.”
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“Restoring weekday hours restores library access for people searching for jobs, taking computer classes, learning to read at our literacy centers and much more,” said City Librarian John F. Szabo. “Having libraries open during the evening is especially beneficial to children and students because we provide a safe, adult-supervised place with after-school programs, homework help, college prep workshops and free computer access—in short—all the resources children need to succeed in school and in life.”

Read the Complete Blog Post
See Also: Getting a read on L.A.’s new city librarian (via LA Times)
A profile from the LA Times (October 14, 2012).
John F. Szabo

Filed under: Funding, Jobs, Libraries, News, Public Libraries