TO:	HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL	FROM:	Jane Light
SUBJECT:	PILOTING SUNDAY HOURS AT LIBRARY BRANCHES	DATE:	October 8, 2003

Approved Date

Council District: Citywide

SNI Area: N/A

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that the City Council approve a pilot program to provide Sunday service at six branches during the school year (Option #1 below) as it more closely meets the direction stated in the adopted 2003-2004 budget message than Option 2.

BACKGROUND

In the Council adopted 2003-2004 budget message, the City Manager was directed to implement a pilot project to provide Sunday branch library service geographically distributed throughout San Jose. George Berhitoe, Chair of the Library Commission, spoke to the Council at its June 9, 2003 public hearing and requested that the Commission be allowed to review alternatives and make a recommendation to the City Council for providing a Sunday service pilot. The Library Department evaluated several options for providing Sunday service.

Criteria when reviewing alternatives were:

· Least negative impact on established customer service in general and after-school service in particular

· Ability of the Library to continue the service at the pilot branches on an ongoing basis

· A schedule easy for public to remember

· Branches open on Sunday that are geographically accessible to the entire city

· Staff morale is maintained, with relatively equitable work schedules for all staff

· The MEF Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) states that employees assigned to a five day, eight hour schedule or nine hour schedule shall be given two consecutive days off.

Below is a matrix with the basic information about each plan, followed by a more in-depth discussion of each.  A map of recommended open branches is attached (Attachment 1).

Option	Pilot Branches	Hours at Pilot Branches	Hours at Other Branches
1	Cambrian East SJ – Carnegie Evergreen Pearl Avenue Santa Teresa West Valley	M 12-9 Tu 12-9 W 12-9 Th 9-6 F CLOSED Sa 9-6 Su 12-6 51 hours per week	Same as current schedule M 12-9 Tu 12-9 W either 12-9 or 9-6 Th 9-6 F 9-6 Sa 9-6 Su CLOSED 54 hours per week
2	Berryessa Evergreen Vineland West Valley	M 11-8 Tu 11-8 W 11-8 Th 10-6 F 10-6 Sa 10-6 Su 1-5 55 hours per week	Revised for Option 2 M 11-8 Tu 11-8 W 11-8 Th 10-6 F 10-6 Sa 10-6 Su CLOSED 51 hours per week

ANALYSIS

OPTION 1: Close 6 branches all day on Friday and open them on Sundays, 12-6.  Branches open would be: Cambrian, East Carnegie, Evergreen, Pearl, Santa Teresa, and West Valley.  The King Library is open 1-7 on Sundays during the San José State academic semester and 1-5 the remainder of the year.

Customer impact:

· Provides Sunday hours at peak demand hours throughout the city

· No library service available in these six branches on Friday, but Fridays have less demand for homework use than other school days

· Students living in these branch service areas will have no library access for one school day; cutbacks to school libraries make students depend even more on the public library

· There would be good geographic distribution throughout San Jose.

Ability of the department to continue the service at the end of the pilot period:

· May be difficult to find resources for substitute staff for absences; pilot program experience will provide that information.

A schedule easy for public to remember:

· May be difficult for customers to remember which branches are closed on Friday or which day their local branch is closed.

Staff morale/impact:

· Negative impact on morale because full-time staff at these six pilot branches would never have consecutive Saturdays and Sundays off, but other staff would continue to have consecutive Saturdays and Sundays off about half the time; MEF contract states that employees assigned to a five day, eight hour schedule or nine hour schedule shall be given two consecutive days off.

· Difficult to fill Sunday hours for absences at these branches that already provide coverage on evenings and a weekend day with an average of only 12.0 FTE

· Scheduling staff for Sundays at King Library will be much more difficult because staff at Sunday branches would no longer be available to work at King Library.

OPTION 2: Four branches would be open 7 days per week with Sunday hours of 1 P.M.-5 P.M.  All branches would switch to a new 6 day schedule, Mondays-Wednesdays 11 A.M.-8 P.M., Thursday-Saturdays, 10 A.M.- 6 P.M.  Branches open Sundays would be the largest and busiest and would geographically cover the city, with the King Library covering central San Jose: Berryessa, Evergreen, Vineland, and West Valley. 

Customer impact:

· Provides a seventh day of service at branches well-distributed throughout city;

· Full six-day service is maintained at all branches and every after-school day

· Sunday service is at peak times of projected use

· Branches would be open one additional evening, but close at 8 PM instead of 9 PM

· Least busy hour would be eliminated (9-10AM, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) at all branches in order to add Sunday hours at four libraries.

Ability of the department to continue the service at the end of the pilot period:

· Sustainable unless library faces further budget cuts; the library has lost 15 positions in the FY 2003/04 budget, while use of the library has increased 71% over the past three years and service hours have remained the same.

A schedule easy for public to remember:

· Schedule at all branches would be the same, except for additional Sunday hours at 5 libraries, thus easier to remember.

Staff morale/impact:

· Allows greater use of part-time staff; staffing would come from all branches rather than only Sunday branches

· All full-time staff would be able to have some weekends off; negative impact on morale would be much less than in Option 1

· Easier to fill absences; less impact on King Sunday staffing.

Option 1 addresses the specific direction adopted in the budget and is therefore recommended. Option 2maintains weekday service at every branch while providing Sunday hours at five geographically dispersed locations. After school assistance will still be available in all branches every day, especially important in light of reductions to school library services.

It is also recommended that the pilot period start three weeks after Council adoption and last through June 13, 2004, paralleling the school year.  Many libraries close their libraries on Sundays during the summer. 

The King Library will be open all summer so Sunday service would remain available in the city.  It is also recommended that the branches be closed December 28, 2003, Easter Sunday and the Sunday before Memorial Day, when the King Library will be closed in FY 2003/04.

This pilot will determine the demand for and the feasibility of having Sunday hours at some branches. Extending the pilot to additional branches would not be feasible without additional resources.

PUBLIC OUTREACH

The Library Commission reviewed the options at its August 13, 2003 meeting and voted to recommend Option 2 to the City Council as the option that best combines Sunday hours of service with the need for weekday after-school service, while maintaining staff morale. The Commission has written a letter (Attachment 2) with its recommendation on Sunday library service.

COORDINATION

This memo has been coordinated with the City Manager’s Office of Employee Relations.

If a decision is made to change the hours at the Library branches, we will discuss the impacts of the implementation of the new hours with the applicable bargaining units.

COST IMPLICATION

Either option can be accomplished within the Department’s current budget.

CEQA

Not a project

Jane Light

Library Director, Library Department