WASHINGTON -- D.C. Public Library is changing hours and services to meet fiscal year 2010 budget cuts.
Notably, there will be a flip-flop in Sunday service. Currently, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is closed on Sundays and neighborhood libraries are open, but beginning Oct. 5, MLK will be open Sundays and neighborhood libraries will be closed.
MLK's Monday and Tuesday hours will be reduced from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. to noon to 9 p.m.
All public libraries will be closed on Monday holidays.
"Even with the changes, we are committed to three important things: keeping the Library open for as many hours as possible; providing the books, technology and other library materials people expect; and opening of six new libraries and celebrating this improvement in service throughout the District," said Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper.
The changes come as the library system faces an 11 percent budget reduction of $4.8 million.
"We appreciate the mayor’s and City Council’s commitment to libraries," Cooper said. "We know these tough economic times have required them to make difficult budget decisions."
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Other cost-cutting changes include no bookmobile service to city schools in fiscal year 2010.
Cooper hopes volunteers will continue to make significant contributions to the library system.
"We have a growing number of volunteers who do wonderful work at the Library and we always need and welcome more," she said.
