SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has confirmed new opening times for libraries including Downend, Staple Hill and Emersons Green, as staffed hours are cut back.
Reductions in the hours where libraries will be open to all, and have librarians on duty, were agreed by councillors to save £273,000 from this year’s council budget.
The libraries will still open on the same days as before, and their open access times, where residents who have signed up for an entry card can use the library while no staff are on duty, will remain the same at 8am to 7.30pm every day.
From November 4, Downend library will be staffed from 10am to 5pm on Monday and Wednesday, and 10am to 3pm on Fridays. Previous staffed hours were 10am to 5.30pm on each day.
The library will be staffed from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays; it was previously staffed from 9.30am.
Staple Hill library will be staffed from 10am to 5pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays: until now it has opened from 10am to 5.30pm on those days. It will open 30 minutes later on Saturdays, at 10am instead of 9.30am.
Emersons Green library will see staffed hours reduced to 10am-5pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, when it was previously open until 5.30pm. Staffed hours on Saturday will also start later, at 10am instead of 9.30am.
The council said Staple Hill & Mangotsfield parish and Emersons Green town councils had agreed to pay for an extra children’s activity and two staffed opening hours each week at their local libraries.
Council cabinet member for communities Sean Rhodes said: “We understand the importance of having staffed hours and we have tried to minimise the impact of the reduction on our communities. .”
Opening hours for the council’s One Stop Shop in Kingswood have also been cut to 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.