The Jacksonville Public Library will begin a new experiment in two months. Chris Ashmore said that the experiment grew out of necessity from the public in hopes of people wanting more access to the library and services. “We’re going to start being open for the first time on Sundays for a few hours. We’ve never had Sunday hours. We hired a consultant last Fall and their work bled into this Spring, working on a long-range plan for some things to work on. One of the things that came out of that, due in part to a community survey of things people want at the library or didn’t want at the library was Sunday hours. People would like to use the library through the weekend.”
The Sunday hours will carry on from there in hopes of fulfilling that request by the public. Ashmore hopes it’ll provide the essential functions for the public during the limited weekend hours. “We will be open for Sunday hours for the first Sunday in November, which is November 3rd, from 12-4PM. It’s limited hours. We’re not going to be opening on Sunday mornings or evenings. I think that’s enough time if people want to come in and used the computer or check out books. We are going to see how it goes. Usually once we start something, we don’t like to take anything away but if people don’t show up on Sundays – you know, it’s an experiment. We’re not taking away any others to do this, and we’ve juggled staff schedules so we can afford to do this without taking away any of our normal hours. We’ll be open every Sunday after the 3rd unless it’s a holiday until further notice. Hopefully, it’s successful.”
The library is currently open Monday through Thursday 9AM-9PM, Friday 9AM-6PM, and Saturday 9AM-5PM. Located at the Carnegie Building at 201 West College Avenue since 1903, the Jacksonville Public Libary has been a part of the city since 1889.