THE COBOURG DAILY STAR – Wednesday, September 2, 1998 – 3
By Cecilia Nasmith
Staff Writer
COBOURG - For the first time in its history, Cobourg will soon be able to take advantage of seven-days-a-week library service.
Sunday openings, which begin September 13, are a response to a 1997 user survey, in which a large number of student patrons asked for Sunday opening, said library board chairman Art Cockerill. The Sunday openings bring to 55 the number of hours weekly in which the library is open. The board's 1998-2000 business plan envisions an eventual 64-hour library week.
At the time of the survey, said trustee Wendy Curtis, the library closed at 3 p.m. Fridays, leaving students only Saturdays to make use of the library over the weekend - a concern since the board is keenly interested in making the library's resources, including internet access, available to students, she said.
Sunday hours will continue throughout the school year, said Ms. Curtis. During that time, some kind of user survey will be undertaken to determine whether Sunday usership is mainly confined to students. Should there be heavy family use of the library Sundays, she said, "we would strive to maintain those hours."
This is part of the board's shift from being a resource deliverer to trying to understand the needs of the community, she added.
The Sunday openings are from 1 to 5 p.m. The other hours remain the same as they have been for the past three months, when the hours were last expanded: 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Ms. Curtis is trying to determine how many other Ontario libraries offer Sunday service.
"My bet is very, very few," she said. "This is superior-quality service, and we are striving to do that in every way, shape and form."
The increased hours will not affect the library's two branches in Hamilton Township. In Bewdley, the hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. In Gore's Landing, the hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
