Don't go to the library on Sunday. Or Monday.

Budget contractions are squeezing the Los Angeles Public Library, which begins a new schedule of reduced hours this Sunday, July 18. Going forward, the Central Library and all 72 LA Public Library branches will be open just five days, Tuesday through Saturday.

All will be closed on Sundays and Mondays. The new library hours, beginning July 18:

Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday, Central Library: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Branch libraries: 12:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Wednesday, all libraries: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Central Library: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Branch libraries: 12:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday, all libraries: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, all libraries: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: CLOSED

This means that students who need the computers or Internet access will have to queue up for places on Saturday. People who work regular hours and want to stop at libraries on the weekend will now have to remember Saturday is their only chance. And for many -- students, people with daytime jobs -- getting to the library at all will be a challenge. While the new hours seem paltry, the budget crisis might force even more drastic cuts in service in the future.

Do we still value libraries? I can't help but think of Andrew Carnegie who, after amassing his millions, launched his own public libraries because of what one man's generosity had meant to him.

Col. James Anderson opened his personal library to working boys, including Carnegie (there was some conflict over whether Carnegie, a messenger boy, qualified, because he had no trade). Carnegie later wrote that he considered being given access to Anderson's library an "invaluable privilege," continuing:

Books which it would have been impossible for me to obtain elsewhere were, by his wise generosity, placed within my reach; and to him I owe a taste for literature which I would not exchange for all the millions that were ever amassed by man.

Anderson also had limited hours. "Every day's toil and even the long hours of night service were lightened by the book which I carried about with me and read in the intervals that could be snatched from duty," Carnegie wrote. "And the future was made bright by the thought that when Saturday came a new volume could be obtained."

Today's would-be Carnegies have access to new volumes from public libraries here in Los Angeles -- as long as they, too, make sure to go on Saturday.

-- Carolyn Kellogg
twitter.com/paperhaus

Photo: The Los Angeles Central Library under cloudy skies. Credit: Robert Youngvia Flickr.

Comments

[idontgetit]

We really need to think about who and what we spend our money on. We spend more money on criminals than me do on law abiding citizens. It's a shame that our schools, libraries and general overall quality of life are becoming progressively worse.

[Deborah]

What a shame that the libraries are only going to be open five days a week. Shame on Mayor V. I wonder what was the last book he read.

[bibliophile]

I am saddened to see that a potential refuge for underprivileged kids will be taken away. I had the opportunity to frequent the dowtown library when I was young and can say that it fueled my desire to learn and escape my impoverished surroundings through higher education. Unfortunately, our current state tax code allows corporate, llc, llp etc. entities to be taxed at a far lower rate than any individual person. We desperately need reform to balance our budget and provide the proper public services. Not necessarily handouts, but services like the library that help create productive and engaged citizens.

[Verdel]

For the first time in the Los Angeles Public Library's 138 year history and except for holiday closures, the Central Library will be closed to the public on Mondays. Join with others to show your support of our library system and to protest more proposed cuts to programs and services on Monday, July 19 at 9:30am in front of the Central Library, 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles, 90071.

[Sue Kamm]

The Los Angeles Public Library system may be closed Sundays, but there are a number of other public libraries open that day. The Southern California Library Cooperative, which consists of public libraries in the area, has a directory of libraries at http://www.socallibraries.org/library. A borrower will probably have to obtain a separate library card, which will probably be free.

[Jeremy Ungar]

Glad we know where our budgetary priorities are.

If the Governor doesn't read books, I certainly don't need to.

[Jen]

Sue: Thanks for sharing the link to other libraries. However, with all 72 of LAPL city libraries closed Sunday and Monday, and Los Angeles County Libraries also closed on Sundays and most branches on Monday starting July 26, most Angelenos will have a long, long way to drive to find a library between Saturday and Tuesday.

[Oscar]

It really is a shame all these cuts are being made. Although, it's a bit ironic you walk up to a picture of the mayor holding a copy of Dickens' Great Expectations as soon as you walk into the Central library.

[Anu]

"Don't go to the library on Sunday. Or Monday."
Ok- I never do anyway. If I go, it's on Saturday.

Who the heck still goes to the library, huh? It would be nice to see usage (patron visits) to total employee salaries (i.e. the taxpayers money) ratio and see how that was adjusted over the years to accomodate the lower visits....

[Lucy]

Yeah way to go Anu, you're cool. And rich too I suppose.
For the rest of the city's children who need a safe place to go and read, shame on California.
I went to the library today to return some materials and it was closed! As I was driving away, I saw a kid riding away from the locked, dark building on a bike and wondered where he was be going...

[Willowgal]

Replying to Anu: "Who the heck goes to the library?" I can tell you who goes, because until I was laid off two weeks ago, I was the Children's Librarian at the Pacoima branch. Sometimes we had over 1,000 people a day coming into the library. We had dozens of neighborhood children and teenagers, older people, people who cannot afford Internet at home and used the library computers to find jobs, children who wanted to hear stories read to them, teens who wanted a safe place to hang out. I provided homework help to school-age children, and because I am fluent in Spanish, many times I would discuss homework assignments with the parents in Spanish, explaining to them exactly what it was the teacher was looking for. In the evenings (when we were open Monday-Thursday until 8 p.m.), the tables would be full of kids and tutors doing homework. I hope I make myself clear!

[Bibliodude]

It is sad beyond words that one of the nation's great library systems - and its splendid Central Library - are closed two days each week. In response to Jen, valid point, but many of the independent libraries that are open 7 days per week include close-in places like Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Torrance, Downey and a few others (some of which close on Sundays in the summer). In response to Anu - cluelessness does not result in useful comments. You really should know something about a subject before you comment on it. Every public library that I know and use is busier, more useful, more diversified in its appeal and more appreciated than ever.