Library’s Sunday Hours OKd for Summer

BURBANK — After trying out Sunday hours for the city’s central library at the request of local teen-agers and the community, Burbank city officials have decided to extend the new schedule at least through the summer.

“The students had a big interest in having it open Sunday afternoons so they could do research,” said Sandra Christopher, Burbank’s library director.

A youth survey conducted by the city two years ago showed that many students wanted extended library hours--in addition to jobs, a teen center and other services.

Throughout this school year, the Burbank Central Library was open on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. and averaged 500 visitors each week for the length of the experiment. At a time when libraries throughout the Los Angeles area are struggling--a proposed county budget released Monday would close up to 15 county libraries and dramatically cut hours--Burbank was able to offer the extended hours using surplus funds from unfilled positions.

On Sunday, the first since the end of the school year, the library had 242 visitors, Christopher said. Library officials will watch what happens through the rest of the summer to show how effective and useful the Sunday hours are, she said.

Meanwhile, the city is still juggling its budget to find temporary ways of keeping the library open on Sundays until the City Council makes a final decision on paying permanently for the extended hours. One possibility is to make cutbacks in the publication of the city’s Burbank Today newsletter, at least to pay for the Sunday hours this summer, Christopher said.

A full report on the new hours is to be given to the City Council in July.

But so far, the public has been using the library as intensely on Sundays as it does on other peak days, such as Mondays and Saturdays, which can have 1,200 to 1,500 visitors in a day, Christopher said.

The Burbank library is open 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, closes at 6 p.m. on Fridays and on Saturday is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.