Most public libraries in the cities surrounding Santa Ana are open on Sundays.  The Santa Ana Public Libraries are closed on Sundays.  Should they be open as well?

The need is great in our city for such services on the weekend as kids often are assigned homework that is due on Monday. Many children in our city lack access to the Internet, sad to say. Our Main Library, in particular, offers a number of computer terminals for use by the public.

We do have budget issues in Santa Ana and cannot simply add another day of wages and benefits, however these is a ready solution.

We currently open at 10 am every day. I think however that we should consider opening later in the day, say perhaps at noon, and using the extra time on Sunday instead. At the very least we need to open up the main library.

We would not need a full complement of library staff on Sundays. No need for any master librarians, for example.

We cannot afford to open more libraries, although the need is great, but this plan would be achievable at no extra cost.

During the summer we could easily roll back to the regular hours, but during the school year we need to make the library available to our young people on Sundays.

The City of Costa Mesa offers library services, for comparison’s sake, on Sundays, at: http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/OC%20Public%20Libraries/Library%20Locator/Costa%20Mesa%20-%20Mesa%20Verde

So does the main library in Garden Grove, at: http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/OC%20Public%20Libraries/Library%20Locator/Garden%20Grove%20Regional.

As does Tustin, at http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/OC%20Public%20Libraries/Library%20Locator/Tustin.

And Irvine, at http://egov.ocgov.com/ocgov/OC%20Public%20Libraries/Library%20Locator/Irvine%20Heritage%20Park.

Those libraries are open at 10 am, during the week, but I don’t see the harm in opening later. We already offer a lot of services online. If an adult resident has some emergency that requires the use of a library in the morning, he or she can always go to a local OC library, such as the one in Orange, on Chapman. Kids don’t have as many options.

In these tough times it makes sense to EXPAND services if we can do so without incurring a hit to our budget, doesn’t it?

The good news is that Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Director Gerardo Mouet has agreed to consider this and we will be meeting in January to discuss my proposal.  Please consider letting him know what you think, by clicking here.

This is a small change but it will send the message that we care about education here in Santa Ana.