SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.
– Funding cuts are forcing Milpitas Public Library to reduce its
operation hours by 18 percent, beginning April 1. However, Santa Clara
County Library District officials assure Milpitas Library patrons that
they can continue to expect quality services at their library, which
they have managed to keep open seven days a week.
“The Milpitas Library provides extraordinary services and I commend
Library staff for looking at the best possible alternatives to keep it
open every day,” said County of Santa Clara Supervisor Dave Cortese,
District 3, where the library is located. “I am pleased to see how
proactive our Library staff is to ensure residents are able to use the
library and its many resources every day of the week.”
Since August 2005, the City of Milpitas has funded staff positions to
extend the Milpitas Library hours, at a cost of approximately $400,000
per year. However, the economic downturn has impacted City contributions
to the library and funding for extra hours is no longer possible. On
February 21, the Milpitas City Council voted to discontinue funding for
Library hours effective April 1.
“We are extremely grateful for the generous contributions the Milpitas
Library has received from the City of Milpitas for over six years,” said
Derek Wolfgram, Deputy County Librarian for Santa Clara County Library.
“As the City is no longer able to sustain funding for library staff
positions, we are working diligently to continue to support as many
service hours as possible with the resources that are available to us.”
Recently, library staff reviewed hour-by-hour usage data and conducted
surveys for both Library resident and non-resident users. Staff learned
that members of the Milpitas community prefer a seven-day service and
consider evening hours usage very important.
“We realized that by reducing less busy morning hours three days per
week, the Library could make more efficient use of its limited staff by
only opening for a single work shift each day ,” said Linda Arbaugh,
Milpitas Community Librarian. “We are keeping the Library open at the
most convenient times for our patrons.”
The Library will open at 1:00 p.m., instead of 10:00 a.m. on Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and will close at 6:00 p.m. on Thursdays,
instead of the current 9:00 p.m. closing time. The new schedule will be:
New Milpitas Library Hours, effective April 1, 2012 (54 hours) is:
Monday - Wednesday 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Thursday - Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday noon - 6:00 pm
Milpitas Library Current schedule until March 31, 2012 (66 hours) is:
Monday-Thursday 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
About Milpitas Public Library
Located at 160 N. Main Street in Milpitas, California, the Milpitas Library
is a 60,000 square foot building with over 300,000 items in its
collection. The library, which was built around an historic grammar
school, opened in January 2009. The computer training center in the
historic part of the building housed the first Santa Clara County
Library in Milpitas in the 1950’s. Other features of the building
include an auditorium, four study rooms for groups, Wifi, and Internet
computers. The library has eight express self-check machines and an
automated book return system which speed up library operations
considerably. An average of 1,700 people visit the library each day.
Many more visit virtually, taking advantage of the library’s online
catalog, databases and ebooks. For additional information about the
Milpitas Library and the Santa Clara County Library District, please
visit www.sccl.org or call 408-262-1171.
About the Santa Clara County Library
Established by the County Board of Supervisors in 1914, the Santa Clara
County Library District serves residents of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy,
Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill,
Saratoga and the unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. It also
includes two bookmobiles and a Virtual Library. The Santa Clara County
Library collection includes 1.8 million books, videos, CDs, DVDs,
audiobooks, ebooks and extensive online resources that users can access
from home or work.
Santa Clara County Library is one of the top 100 libraries in the United
States. For eleven years, it has ranked as one of the best in the
nation for its size by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings
which uses 15 different benchmark measures such as collections,
circulation, visits and customer service. Also recognized as one of
America’s 2011 Star Libraries by Library Journal and with more
than 3.8 million visits each year, the Santa Clara County Library
District is one of the most-used public resources in the region. Visit
Santa Clara County Library online at www.sccl.org
Media Contact: Gwendolyn Mitchell/Marina Hinestrosa,
Office of Public Affairs, (408) 299-5119; Melinda Cervantes/Derek
Wolfgram, Santa Clara County Library (408) 293-2326 ext. 3001/3002
Posted: March 7, 2012