All Chicago Public Libraries will be reopened for Monday hours, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Library Commissioner Brian Bannon announced.
“We are not only re-establishing Monday morning hours during the school year, we are honoring the promise that the Library offers to the children and adults who depend on it," Emanuel said in a statement.
Emanuel announced in February that branch locations of the Chicago Public Library would be open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays during the Chicago Public Schools school year. Mondays already were scheduled to be open for eight hours when CPS is not in session during the spring and summer.
The more than $2 million allocated in January to open the libraries six days a week is a combination of savings and shifted resources, and allowed 155 positions to be placed in CPL branches.
The new plan will allow for 76 neighborhood branches to offer full day service during the school year without upping the budget by re-allocating staff, filling vacant positions and adjusting full-and part-time positions.
Bannon directed a staffing analysis in January, ultimately resulting in a switch from one staffing model for all branches to individualized models fit for each branch's particular needs.
“By taking a new and creative approach to staff libraries, not only will young children, parents and adults be able to take advantage of services and resources that our community libraries offer for 8-hours on Mondays, we have an opportunity to broaden the array of services we offer,” Emanuel said in a statement.
