Hours To Be Reduced At Three Branches Of The Placer County Library

Published on January 09, 2015

Beginning Jan. 26, 2015, the Auburn and Rocklin branches of the Placer County Library will temporarily be closed on Mondays and the Loomis branch will be open eight fewer hours each week.

The reductions are a strategic move to restructure and ensure that the county is able to provide the best, most modern, sustainable library services for years to come.

The Placer County Board of Supervisors approved the reductions in library hours on Tuesday.

“I absolutely see it as a temporary solution,” Director of Library Services Mary George said.

“This is like Spring cleaning. Our goal is to come out of this with not just a return of the Monday hours, but perhaps even adding more hours, once we get things in order.”

The reductions in hours at the three branches will help the library reduce its costs while it develops a long-term staffing plan and implements a Library Strategic Plan approved by the board in 2013. The plan’s goals include reversing the erosion in library services, modernizing operations to improve efficiency and expand services, and building capacity for the future.

The staffing plan will examine ways to increase the library’s base of permanent employees and reduce its use of extra-help employees. Hiring more permanent employees will allow the library to provide more consistent customer service; maintain more stable schedules; and reduce the need to continually recruit, hire and train extra-help pages.        

The plan approved by the board will reduce the weekly schedules of the Auburn and Rocklin branches from 47 to 39 hours and the Loomis branch from 32 to 24 hours.

The Auburn and Rocklin branches will remain open Tuesdays through Saturdays. The Loomis branch will cut its hours on several days to accommodate the total eight-hour reduction.

The locations and hours of all 11 branch libraries can be viewed online.