Libraries Open Fewer Hours to Save Money | Arts & Culture

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. -- Staff reductions due to Johnson County government’s voluntary retirement incentive program prompted the Johnson County Library Board to review the hours of operation for the 12 Johnson County neighborhood libraries and the Central Resource Library at its regular board meeting held on December 21.

Due to staffing shortages, the board voted to reduce hours effective January 3, 2012.  The Leawood, Oak Park and Lackman Neighborhood Libraries will no longer be open on Sundays. The Cedar Roe Neighborhood Library will no longer be open on Fridays and will be open only from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.  All library locations, including the Central Resource Library, will close at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. The DeSoto and Spring Hill Neighborhood Libraries will open at 1:00 p.m. on Thursdays, rather than at 10:00 a.m.

The Library is the county department with the highest number of employees taking the County’s early retirement initiative. Of the 76 library employees eligible, 28 elected to take the option and will leave the organization between December 22 and January 21; 17 will leave by December 24.  Together this group of employees represents 621 years of library experience and $1.284 million in salary costs. The vast majority of those leaving are librarians and professional staff that cannot be backfilled from other county departments due to the required skill set. This loss represents 647 hours per week of public service hours throughout the library system.

At least seven of the 28 positions are critical to the operation of the library and have been prioritized for rehire. Should the appeal process and the 2013 budget process enable rehire of any of the positions, some library hours may be reclaimed, but the Library Board felt the need to address the immediate shortfall by reducing library hours.

Over the past three years, the Library has streamlined services resulting in a savings of over $160,000 and a reduction of eight FTE.  The workforce has diminished by 7% since 2008; the early retirement loss results in an additional 8% loss, for a total loss of 15% in the past four years.

In addition to reducing hours, the library will be shifting staff throughout the system, utilizing support staff at public service desks for partial staffing, further reorganizing, and eliminating more library programming. For more information on library services and hours, visit www.jocolibrary.org.