Saturday hours are returning to the Hall County Library System but on a limited basis.The Hall County Library Board voted Tuesday night to open the Gainesville branch off Main Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday and North Hall and Spout Springs branches for the same hours on Saturdays on a rotating basis.The schedule will start after the system’s new North Hall branch, known as the North Hall Community and Technology Center, opens on Oct. 15.Under the new arrangement, the new branch, which is off Nopone Road, would be open the second and fourth Saturdays.The Spout Springs branch, which is off Spout Springs Road at the entrance to Sterling on the Lake subdivision in South Hall, would be open the first and third Saturdays.Also, the board will reconsider the Saturday hours in December.“Maybe (by then), we can recapture any funding from any kind of programs and look at the volunteers who might help cover with limited responsibilities but to be another warm body,” board member Sandra Cantrell said.Scott Gibbs, who represents North Hall on the Hall County Board of Commissioners, suggested to the board that it look at ways to cut down on programs and “put the money (saved) into operations.”“Kids need use of books and computers,” he said.Gibbs added, “I know adults use (the libraries), but kids benefit the most from them.”Billy Powell, West Hall commissioner who serves on the library board, suggested that staff analyze programs and report back on whether any extra money can be used toward additional operating hours.Also, by the December meeting, “we can determine whether North Hall is going to be viable on Saturdays,” said board member Harriette Taylor.Overall, she said she thought the hours “would give more coverage for everyone.”“It might be a little confusing on what (library) is open, but ... only until people got used to every other Saturday,” Taylor added.Since Sept. 1, all Hall libraries have operated on fewer hours during the week and are closed entirely on the weekends.Adrian Mixson, the library system director, said in an August interview that the changes were made in response to significant funding challenges for fiscal 2013, which started July 1.The system is operating this fiscal year with about $2.56 million, or about $160,000 less than the fiscal 2012 budget of about $2.73 million. That includes a $183,000 hit in funding from impact fees. Its operating budget from the county was increased by about $24,000.In addition to the overall smaller budget, the system is coping with the increased cost of state health insurance, which Mixson said “has drained our resources.”He repeated those financial concerns before the library board Tuesday night.However, in a memo distributed to board members and audience members, Mixson said that “recent staff transitions have created an opportunity to hire additional part-time staff and address Saturday openings.”But “we can’t open everywhere on weekends,” he said in addressing the board.