Sunday and late-night public library hours will be cut from the end of next month as the ACT government pushes ahead with changes that will also reduce the number of branches open outside of business hours despite community pushback.
Libraries ACT on Thursday said its branches' hours would change from August 27 following an announcement in June of planned changes to the way libraries operated, after a independent review of the territory's public library system.
The critical review identified inefficient staffing and other dysfunction in the library system as the cause of frequent unplanned branch closures.
Greens deputy leader Andrew Braddock condemned the cuts as a backwards step for the community and called on the government to change course.
"I'd encourage anyone to go to the library on a weekend. For example, I was at Kippax just the other day on a Saturday and there was over 90 people, parents and children, attending the giggle-and-wiggle session and that shows the value of these community libraries have for Canberrans and why they need to remain open," Mr Braddock told The Canberra Times.
City Services Minister Tara Cheyne, who is responsible for the library system, said the changes were designed to deliver a reliable library service and solve the problem of more than 100 unplanned branch closures caused by inflexible and outdated rosters.
"The rostering model has been informed by the opening hours and the opening hours has been informed again by staff input, by visitation data, and how people are using our libraries to support ultimately a sustainable model," Ms Cheyne told budget estimates this week.
The Kippax branch in West Belconnen will no longer open on Saturdays under the changes. Civic and Erindale will also now be closed at the weekends.
The Belconnen, Woden, Dickson, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong branches will open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. The five town-centre branches previously opened from 10am to 4pm on Saturday and from noon to 4pm on Sundays.
The five branches with Sunday hours averaged 96 visitors an hour with 1920 attendees across the sites, budget estimates heard this week.
Sixty-three of 66 staff voted on the change to the roster, with 34 supporting the change, 28 voting against it and one ineligible vote.
Libraries ACT said the new operating hours would create a more reliable library services and were aligned to when most people used the branches. New 24-hour book lockers would be introduced later in the year to allow library users to collect books around the clock.
"We know some members will miss Sunday visits and late-night hours. Every region of Canberra keeps a full-day Saturday library service. The digital catalogue remains available online 24 hours a day, allowing customers to search, reserve and manage library resources whenever it is convenient," the notice on the Libraries ACT website said.
Mr Braddock said the issue of library cuts made it more challenging for the Greens to renegotiate a supply-and-confidence agreement with Labor.
"The libraries are third spaces that provide so much value to the Canberra community and that's why Greens have been fighting so hard to see them remain accessible to the Canberra community, not just during the week but also on the weekends," he said.
