To the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
Date q/30l23cA_L CC ✓
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March 30, 2023
Council Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor Blackburn and Members of the City Council From: Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager
Suzanne Smithson, Library & Cultural Al t Director
Via: Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager
Re: Library & Cultural Arts Hours of Opera 10n (Districts -All) {city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID# 2023028
The Library & Cultural Arts {L&CA) Department is providing the following information regarding the potential to restore additional hours of operations at libraries:
• Restore the 9 to 10 a.m. hour of service to the community, Mondays through Saturdays, at all L&CA facilities.
Background
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgina Cole Library and the Carlsbad City {Dove) Library were open to the public 68 hours per week, seven days per week, while the Library Learning Center was open 60 hours per week, Monday through Saturday. After initially shutting down completely in March 2020, L&CA facilities have incrementally reopened beginning in September 2020, settling on the current hours in May 2021-providing 50 hours per week of service at all three locations.
Current service hours at all three locations are listed below:
• Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m . to 7 p.m.
' • Friday -Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m :
Staff is providing the following information in consideration of restoring one additional hour of service, 9 to 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday at all three locations. The addition of six more hours per week of service will have no fiscal impact.
Discussion
Since March of 2020, the L&CA Department has followed city, county, and state guidelines for providing appropriate levels of public service during the COVID-19 pandemic, L&CA staff used the various levels of closure to the public to be innovative and create new ways to support the community in· their library and cultural needs. Areas of adapted service include:
• Increased and diverted funding for downloadable materials, available from home 24/7 • Provided staff availability via phone, chat, email, or other e-connections (such as Zoom, MS Teams, FaceTime, etc.) to support patron learning of new virtual technologies Community Services Branch
Library & Cultural Arts Department
1775 Dove Lane I Carlsbad, CA 920111 442-339-2090 t
Council Memo -Library & Culturi:)I Arts Hours of Operation (Districts -All) March 30, 2023
• Extended circulation periods and due dates to minimize public exposure • Provided virtual storytimes and increased online early literacy support resources • Provided online K-12 one-on-one tutoring resources
• Incorporated on line versions of book clubs and summer reading programs • Supported favorite cultural programs in new ways: TGIF in Your Backyard; u'kulele ins~ruction and distribution; streaming of events from the Kennedy Center • Cannon Gallery tours provided virtually and related art kits distributed to school classes which would have visited in person
• Coordinated virtual one-on-one literacy instruction for existing tutor/learner pairs • Developed a curbside pick-up service for library and arts materials -which developed into a permanent service
• Adjusted "in-library only" databases to add access from home • Adjusted arrangements with our partner agencies including developing drive-through Mail Ballot Drop-Off services with the Registrar of Voters • Hosted Carlsbad Reads Together programs via Zoom
• Gradually increasing levels and hours of service open to the public Additional Hour of Service 9-10 a.m.
• Current service hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday \
through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all three locations (50 hours per week; since May 2021).
• The additional potential restored hour of service of the 9 to 10 a.m. hour Monday through Saturday would increase service hours to the community from 50 to 56 hours per week equally at all three facilities. This would extend the continuing increase of services and service hours over the past three years.
Listed below is an overview of L&CA's service hours and adjustments since March 2020:
March -June 2020 All services virtual and on line (phone, email, chat, text, downloads, etc.) June 2020 Curbside pickup added at all sites
Book returns allowed incorporating a quarantine period
Sept 2020 Computer use inside the libraries offered on alternating sites/days Oct 2020 Gallery opened to limited number of visitors at a time April 2021 Opened buildings for browsing of materials; still on alternating sites/days ln~orporated greeter staff positions to assist patrons in understanding what services were available
May 2021 All libraries and cultural arts facilities open Monday-Saturday, 10a.m-7p.m.
June 2021 Removed occupancy requirements; allowed seating July 2021 Began accepting donations
Invited some volunteers to return
Stopped quarantine of returned library materials
Council Memo -Library & Cultural Arts Hours of Operation (Districts -All) March 30, 2023
Sept 2021 Outside organizations once again able to rent meeting spaces; Friends of the Library bookstore reopened at Dove Library
Oct 2021 In-person programs and movies gradually begin to return • While this adjustment of hours does not bring L&CA to pre-pandemic schedules, staff's analysis of pre-pandemic data shows that 9 to 10 a.m. had the highest number of visits and circulation of materials of any service hour that is currently unrestored. • There are no anticipated additional staffing costs associated with restoring the 9 to 10 a.m. hour:
o Staff are already on site. Opening the doors to the public at 9 a.m. simply means assigning existing staff to service desks an hour earlier. Right now, staff are processing materials and doing other behind-the-scenes and preparatory work until 10 a.m. o Any occasional gaps in hourly staffing can be covered with full-time staff who are also already on site and working. Occasionally, part-time staff may need to be scheduled for an extra hour, but the department's existing budget allows for this. • The fiscal year 2022-23 budget is funded at a level that can support the extra hour open to the public six days per week.
• Impact to utilities costs will be minimal: no adjustments are needed for HVAC hours of operation and only slight increases in electricity is anticipated with public computers available for use for an extra hour per day.
As a comparison, a survey of local libraries in nearby cities was conducted in mid-March with the following results:
North County Libraries Hours of Service, March 2023
Oceanside Public Library Main-58 hours, Branch -62 hours, new library added in Community Center -45 hours
Escondido Public Library 60 hours
San Diego County Library larger local branches (Encinitas, Vista, San Marcos) -51 hours San Diego Public Library four closest branches along 56 corridor -51 hours (City of San Diego)
A detailed list of open hours including daily schedules as of March 2023 is attached (Attachment A).
Conclusion
The city can offer an additional six hours of library services per week at no additional cost. For comparison, restoring library services on Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. requires sc;heduling additional part-time staff and paying overtime to full-time staff, at an estimated annual cost of $195,572.
Next Steps
Staff intends to restore one additional hour of service, 9 to 10 a.m., Monday through Saturday, at all three locations starting on May 8, 2023, and will continue to evaluate hours of operation with more information to follow in the fiscal year 2023-24 budget presentation.
Council Memo -Library & Cultural Arts Hours of Operation (Districts -All) March 30, 2023
Attachment A: North County libraries, hours of operation cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Cindie McMahon, City Attorney
Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
Zach Korach, Finance Director
San Diego North County Libraries
Hours of Operation
Carlsbad City Library
Current hours for all sites:
Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. -7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. -5 p.m.
Sunday closed
Total hours: 50
· Proposed hours for all sites:
Monday-Thursday . 9 a.m. -7 p.m.
Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. -5 p.m.
Sunday closed
Total hours: 56
March 2023
Pre-covid hours:
Dove and Cole:
Monday -Thursday
Friday and Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 68
Learning Center:
Monday -Thursday
Friday and Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 60
ATTACHMENT A
9 a.m. -9 p.m.
9 a.m. -5 p.m.
1 p.m. -5 p.m.
9 a.m. -8 p.m.
9 a.m. -5 p.m.
closed
Oceanside Public Library
Civic Center Library
Monday -Thursday
Friday -Saturday
Sunday
hours verified via website and shared staff member (works at CCL and OPL} Total hours: 58
9 a.m. -7 p.m.
9 a.m. -6 p.m.
closed
Mission Branch Library
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. -7 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 9 a.m. -6 p.m.
Sunday 1 p.m. -5 p.m.
Total hours: 62
John Landes Community Center Library
Monday-Friday 9 a.m. -6 p.m.
Total hours: 45
Plus bookmobile service
Escondido Public Library
Monday
Tuesday -Thursday
Friday -Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 60
9 a.m. -6 p.m.
9 a.m. -8 p.m.
9 a.m. -6 p.m.
closed
hours verified via website and Library Director
SAN DIEGO COUNTY LIBRARY: hours verified via website and Vista Branch Manager Note: No SDCL location is currently open more than 51 hours per week.
Encinitas, San Marcos, Vista (larger local branches)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 51
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
12 p.m. -7 p.m.
12 p.m. -7 p.m.
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
Solana Beach -joint use with middle school
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 38
Cardiff
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total hours: 37
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
12 p.m. -7 p.m.
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
Closed
Closed
Closed
12 p.m. -7 p.m.
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
10 a.m. -6 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
10 a.m. -5 p.m.
Closed
ATTACHMENT A
SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY hours verified via website, phone call to branch service desk Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Carmel Valley, Carmel Mountain Monday -Tuesday 11:30 a.m. -8 p.m.
Wednesday-Saturday 9:30 a.m. -6 'p.m.
Sunday Closed
Total hours: 51
SDUT article from late January notes that Sunday hours will resume at 13 of SDPL's 36 branches this spring r