Starting Monday December 12 West End public libraries will be open significantly longer hours.

According to a North Olympic LIbrary System news release, the Clallam Bay Library will be open Mondays-Wednesdays 11a.m.-7p.m. and Thursdays-Saturdays 10a.m.-5p.m.

The Forks Library will be open Mondays-Thursdays 10a.m.-7p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays 10a.m.-6p.m.

A full-time youth services librarian, based in Forks and serving the entire West End, is already planning and presenting programs and services for kids and teens. 

North Olympic Library System Director Paula Barnes said in a prepared statement, “Ask any North Olympic Library System employee or member of the Board to name the #1 request from the public, and they will tell you people want more convenient, easier-to-remember operating hours.…In Forks it means finally having (longer) library hours on Saturdays.  In Clallam Bay, it’s having the library open on Tuesdays.  Effective Monday, Dec. 12, thanks to the library levy approved by the voters in 2010, people across Clallam County will get the kind of library service they’ve been asking for.

“Restoring and expanding service hours became a key component of the Library’s NOLS 2012 business plan because of public demand.  Upon approval of the levy lid lift by Clallam County voters in August 2010, the plan was put into effect, and the Library immediately began preparing to restore and fill staff positions that had been lost over the years to budget cuts. The original goal was to expand hours as early as possible in 2012. 

“We were excited to actually have the necessary staff on board and trained by mid-December,” said Library Board of Trustees Chair Meghan Tuttle, who is from the West End.  “Even though the business plan is called NOLS 2012, why wait until 2012 to give people what they want, if we’re able to do it sooner?”

At the Forks Branch, community demand for Saturday hours has been long-standing.  For many years the dedicated Forks staff have voluntarily adjusted their schedules to offer abbreviated hours on Saturdays during the school year.  Now, with the new schedule, the Forks Library will be open regularly for a full day on Saturday, year-round.  Customers of the Clallam Bay Branch will also be able to enjoy Saturday hours, as well as a full-day schedule on Tuesdays.

A non-profit Library Foundation, that will help fund programs and capital improvements, is in the process of being formed.  And more new books and other materials, including e-books, are being added to the library’s collections every day.

For more information go to www.nols.org.