Reduced hours for Cedar Rapids library begin Sunday

CEDAR RAPIDS - New reduced hours for the two Cedar Rapids Public Library locations - downtown and westside Ladd Library - begin Sunday.

The library leadership said it had to reduce hours, cut positions and scale back investment in the collection and technology to save $460,000 in the fiscal 2017 budget, which begins in July. Library Director Dara Schmidt has said the hour reductions were based on metrics showing the lowest use times at the library.

'Library staff examined every area of library service including circulation, door count, computer use, and program attendance to make data driven decisions,” Schmidt stated in a news release. 'Additional staff changes and program decisions will continue to be reviewed as we head into our next fiscal year.”

The new hours will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday at both libraries; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday downton; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday at Ladd.

The biggest changes are closing one hour earlier on Mondays to Thursdays, and closing Ladd on Saturdays and downtown on Sundays.

Changes to the library budget became necessary when voters last year rejected adding a 27-cent levy to their taxes to cover library costs. The library operated on a $6.3 million budget in 2016, but the budget was subsidized by $700,000 in one-time funding from city coffers. City Hall eliminated the one-time funding in the fiscal 2017 budget, but agreed to bump up permanent funding by $350,000, leaving the library to resolve the remaining gap.

The cuts, which were announced earlier, have caused the Cedar Rapids Public Library to fall to the lowest tier of accreditation through the State Library of Iowa.

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