Dougherty Co. library board to lay off six and close two libraries | Community Spirit

ALBANY, GA - The Dougherty County Public Library Board of Trustees held a meeting Tuesday, June 12 and during the meeting the board decided to lay off six employees and close two out of the five branches.

Southside Branch Library and Westtown Branch Library are the libraries that will close on Saturday, June 30.

The board also decided to decrease system-wide hours in order to meet operation costs for FY2013.

The new hours for the libraries will go into effect starting Sunday, July 1. The Northwest Branch, Talluah Massey Branch, Central Branch will be open Monday from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Tuesday – Thursday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Friday – Saturday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

The Northwest Branch and Talluah Massey Branch

Will be closed on Sunday, but the Central Branch will be open on Sunday from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Here is the full press release from the Dougherty County Public Library

At a called meeting on Tuesday, June 12, 2012, the Dougherty County Public Library Board of Trustees approved a plan to lay off 6 employees, close 2 library branches, and decrease system-wide hours in order to absorb decreases in state and local funding and increases in employee benefit and other operational costs for FY2013.

The branches that will close under the plan are Southside Branch Library and Westtown Branch Library.
The selected branches will be closing their doors at the end of the business day on Saturday, June 30.

Library closing decisions were made based on the overall cost of library operations, usage levels, proximity to other branches and library size.

Effective July 1, hours for the branches to remain open are:

Northwest Branch and Tallulah  Massey Branch                           Central Branch

Monday 10am – 8pm                                                                            Monday 10am – 8pm

Tuesday – Thursday 10am – 6pm                                                       Tuesday – Thursday 10am – 6pm

Friday – Saturday 10am – 2pm                                                            Friday – Saturday 10am – 2pm

Sunday closed                                                                                      Sunday 2pm – 6pm

In addition to fewer locations, hours and staff, library patrons may notice other budget impacts, including more limited resources.  Upcoming programming planned for the Southside Branch Library and Westtown Branch Library will be rescheduled to another branch. 

Additionally, at its annual meeting, the PINES Executive Committee voted to increase the overdue fee for books from 10 cents per day to 20 cents per day, effective July 1, 2012.

A statewide consortium of 285 public libraries and affiliated service outlets in 143 Georgia counties, the Public Information Network for Electronic Services – PINES, for short – offers citizens a shared catalog of approximately 10.4 million items, with a single library card that is welcomed in all member libraries.

The July fine increase will affect books in the collections of all PINES member libraries, including those of the Dougherty County Public Library.

Similar fee increases for overdue magazines, audio books, compact discs and other items are currently under review by PINES subcommittees and could be implemented in the coming months. 

Despite the need for this change, the Library also wants to do its best to help borrowers return items on time. Individuals who have opted to receive email notices from the Library currently receive courtesy reminders several days before books and other items are due.

Borrowers are also contacted by mail, phone, or email when items are past due and need to be returned. The first overdue notice is generated at 10 days past the due date of an item. 

The final notice is sent at 30 past the due date.  Library cardholders can access information about their Library accounts anytime from the Library website, www.docolib.org, or by calling 420-3200 with their Library card number.

Information regarding other affected services will be announced and updated at www.docolib.org and other avenues as appropriate.