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Hall library board to take another look at branch hours
Board members to revisit issue at Jan. 22 meeting
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Lauren Tennyson, Spout Springs library assistant of youth services, works at her desk in the children’s section at the South Hall branch Wednesday afternoon. The Hall County Library System’s board will soon be deciding on operating hours at its branches and whether to continue a Saturday rotation of the Spout Springs and North Hall branches. - photo by Scott Rogers | The Times
The Hall County Library Board plans to revisit operating hours at its branches at its Jan. 22 meeting, but patrons shouldn’t expect officials to push for changes.“My recommendation is to leave hours alone,” said Adrian Mixson, director of the Hall County Library System.“Consensus from staff is (that) constantly changing hours was as confusing as floating weekends and flip-flopping days and nights,” he said, referring to past scheduling moves.“I do not see us adding any additional hours at this time and if we forced people to work every weekend and night, we would not keep anybody.”Making ends meet has been particularly challenging for the library system during the economic downturn, forcing officials to scale back hours and cut staff by 30 percent.The system eliminated weekend hours starting Sept. 1, but soon after reconsidered the move.Since Oct. 15, the Spout Springs branch at 6488 Spout Springs Road, Flowery Branch, has been open the first and third Saturdays of the month. And the North Hall Community and Technology Center at 4175 Nopone Road has been open every second and fourth Saturday.Also, the main branch at 127 Main St., Gainesville, just off the downtown square, is open every Saturday. The Blackshear Place branch in Oakwood and the Murrayville branch are closed on Saturdays.Saturday hours at the three open locations are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.Since the Saturday adjustment, “nothing has changed (with personnel),” Mixson said.