One Library Door Closes, Another Opens

School libraries start evening hours after public library shutdown

Staff -- School Library Journal, 12/1/1999

In the wake of the closure of the Corning (NY) Area Public Library, the local school district has decided to expand its library hours to the late afternoon and evening. The district recently received a $44,000 grant that will let it keep three libraries open two nights a week, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The idea is "to open our doors to the public and, more important, to students who might use the public ibrary at night and have no place else to go, says Lorraine Barker, library media specialist at Corning East High School. The district is still waiting for the board of education to approve the idea, and district officials still need to decide exactly who they will serve--students? the general public?--and how.

Corning's public library was forced to close earlier this month after voters rejected a tax hike needed to keep it running.