Reduced Hours Begin July

Due to budget cuts, the Library's hours are being reduced from:

• 31 hours to 24 hours a week
• 5 days to 4 days a week.

Effective July 1, 2009, the new schedule is:

• Monday             closed
• Tuesday          11 am - 6 pm
• Wednesday     11 am - 6 pm
• Thursday           closed
• Friday             12 pm - 5 pm
• Saturday         12 pm - 5 pm
• Sunday               closed

The new schedule is based upon patron input gathered from the Library Hours Survey.

Lucy is Retiring!

After 23 years of devoted service to PGPL and its patrons,

Lucy is retiring.

We will miss her

smiling presence at the check-out desk,

fastidious management of the periodicals collection,

hospitable nature,

remarkable recall of library history....

Come wish her a fond farewell.

Friday, June 19th

2 - 4 pm

in the Periodicals area

Cake & Punch will be Served.

If you cannot drop by on Friday, Lucy will be working at the Library until June 30, 2009.

Summer Reading Club Continues

Be Creative @ Your Library !

The fun continues....

Sign up for the Summer Reading Club!

Read Books, Wonderful Books, & Earn Prizes!

Come to the SPECIAL PROGRAMS ON WEDNESDAYS @ 2 pm!

Wednesday, June 17th, there will be lots of laughs

with DAFFY DAVE!

Survey Comments

In addition to answering our questions, you offered comments of your own. We've read them all. Here's a sampling of comments on when our patrons would like the Library to be open:

• "Morning hours are very convenient for me."
• "I am retired, so I mainly use the Library in the afternoons."
• "I like evening and afternoon hours so my kids can come after school."
• "It is important to stay open some hours for people who work M-F 8-5."
• "SUNDAY IS THE BEST DAY OF ALL!!!"
• "Would be nice to have the library open the same evening as farmer's market."
• "There is a line out the door at 10:00 am openings. This indicates a huge need!"
• "If 24 hr/wk are the max hrs, it would be optimal for individual time managment purposes to be open 6 days a week from noon to 4 P.M."
• "Although I only use the Library once a week in Pacific Grove, I feel it is important to have it open as much as possible for the entire community."
• "I love the library and would come by everyday its open."

Future posts will include your "additional comments" on Library operations.

Summer Reading Club

Be Creative @ your library !

That's the theme of this year's Summer Reading Club. And the Library has LOTS of wonderful programs and prizes planned to help kids stir up their creative juices.

Sign-up begins June 9th.

The FUN continues through July 29th.

And Every Wednesday @ 2 p.m. is a Special Program.

Our first program, on June 10th:

PETER BRIZZI PUPPET THEATER!

(Stay tuned for future programs.... or pick up a schedule, next time you're in the Library.)

Booksale on Saturday!

June 6th is the first Saturday of the month, and that means the Friends of the Library are having their monthly book sale, in the Library arcade.

For over a year, volunteers have adopted the colossal task of sorting through heaps of donations, organizing the books, hauling them outdoors, and collecting money.

It sounds like a team of ten or twenty, doesn't it? But all of this is done by 3 amazing volunteers: Amy, Frances & Gary.

From noon until 3 pm, they will be selling DVDs for $3, hardback books for $2, trade paperbacks for $1, and mass market paperbacks for .50. Rare books and special editions are individually priced. And for the adventurous, there are pre-packaged "Surprise Bags:" 10 books for $1!

Come take a look, and pick up some summer reading. Every buck goes to the Library, to purchase new books and materials. And every purchase makes a difference!

p.s. If you can't make it on Saturday, the Library has a small ongoing book sale in the Library also. Books for sale are located on two carts outside the Children's Room, underneath the glass wall.

Survey Results

We asked. And you answered.

And the overwhelming consensus is:

• You're most likely to visit the Library in the afternoon.
• It's "extremely important" to be open weekday afternoons and Saturday afternoon.
• It's "not very important" to be open weekday mornings.
• Wednesday is the weekday you're most likely to visit.
• Monday is the weekday you're least likely to visit.
• You're most likely to attend programs for children during the afternoon. (Wednesday and Saturday in particular.)
• You're most likely to attend programs for adults in the evening. (Wednesday and Thursday in particular.)

From May 15th to May 31st, our patrons picked up approximately 200 Library Hours Surveys: from the circulation desk, reference desk, and our web site. More than 150 were returned, giving us a 75% return rate.

77% of the surveys were completed by PGPL cardholders. Monterey Public Library cardholders filled out the rest. And the vast majority of surveys were completed by residents who live here, in 93950.

We greatly appreciate your input. It will help guide us through the difficult decision of which hours to cut for next fiscal year....

......and when times improve, it will help us decide which hours to add.