Starting Nov. 4, the Great Bend Public Library will no longer be open on Sundays. This is a permanent change, according to Gail Santy, director of GBPL and the Central Kansas Library System.
Santy said she met with the library board in September and received approval for the change.
The library has always been closed on Sundays during the summer schedule, from May 15 through Aug. 15. But for the rest of the year, regular Sunday hours are 1-5 p.m.
Santy said the number of visitors on Sunday didn’t justify remaining open.
“We looked at usage stats from our electronic door counter,” she said. “We had to look at not just visitors but the number of employees.”
For safety reasons, the library needs at least three employees in the building any time it is open, she said.
Better use of staff
The change will not mean a reduction in staff, Santy said.
“What we will be able to do is shift staffing around to (our) busiest hours and when we have programming. We will be able to take the hours staff would have worked on Sunday and put those hours where we need them when we are very busy. For example, we do a lot of programming on Tuesday and Thursday evening and now we can add staff to those busy times,” she said.
“We will also be able to offer programming on Saturday morning, which is something we have never done before. What we are finding is more families are coming to the library during that evening programming. We suspect it will be the same on Saturdays.”
The library board looked at the door count total by month from September 2016, when electric door counters were installed, to August 2018. The average Sunday attendance in 2017, excluding the months of May, June, July and August when the library was on summer hours at least part of the month, was 129 people. The average has been about the same in 2018.
Visitors to the library this past Sunday included people attending the annual Friends of the Library Book Sale in the basement. On the main floor, the first hour saw a couple of boys in the children’s area, and two girls in the Teen Spot. Another woman was reading a book while three people sat down at library computers connected to the internet.
Larissa Richards, one of two women on computers, said she works for Rescare and brings clients most Sundays. “One will be upset about it,” she said. Her client enjoys coming to the library on Sundays and checking out movies.
Helen Skinner said Sunday trips to the library will definitely be missed.
“I come here almost every day,” Skinner said, adding she wished the library could be open more hours throughout the week. She likes to use the computer to play games and check her email. It’s the easiest way for her to catch up with her siblings, who live in other states.
Open Saturdays
Santy said the board did take those who use the library on weekends into consideration.
“The library board was mindful of students doing research and made sure the library evening and Saturday hours will remain the same. The library will remain open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the months school is in session,” she said.
Although the board did not look at what the door count would need to be to justify staying open on Sundays, Santy said the board did look at what other libraries do and found few that stay open on Sundays.
Libraries at Basehor and Winfield are open four hours on Sunday, and McPherson Public Library is open three hours. Libraries that are closed on Sundays include Larned, Newton, Dodge City, Liberal, Arkansas City and Ottawa.
“Basehor is a much smaller community, has fewer library visits, but the mill levy is higher and total staff expenditures is higher. That’s how they can be open on Sunday,” she said.
“The 2016 Kansas Public Library Standards state the library will be open some weekend and evening hours and the library will still meet that standard,” Santy added. “Looking at staffing expenditures was an important part of the comparison."
