Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: March 3, 2004
Author/Local: E. Smith
RTS No. 04051
CC File No. 4004
Meeting Date: March 23, 2004
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
City Librarian Vancouver Public Library
SUBJECT:
Sunday Hours of Opening
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve funding to allow the Library to open on Sundays all year round ( an 11 additional Sundays), in 2004, at the Central, Kitsilano, Oakridge and Renfrew branches, at an estimated annual cost of $ 132,000, with funding from contingency reserve.
B. THAT Council approve funding to allow the Library to provide equal access to Sunday openings in all the Branch areas by opening the Britannia branch all year on Sundays, starting in September, 2004, at an estimated cost of $ 11,000 in 2004 ($ 32,000 annually), with funding from contingency reserve.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager notes that increased Sunday service was one of the initiatives submitted by the library as part of the 2004 budget and that funding from Contingency Reserve has been identified for this initiative. The City Manager recommends A and B.
POLICYThe increased level of service and the increase in funding for the Vancouver Public Library require Council approval.
PURPOSE
To obtain Council approval to open all year round on Sundays and to provide equal access across the city to library services on Sunday by increasing hours at Britannia.
BACKGROUND
The Library (Central, Kitsilano, Oakridge, and Renfrew branches) is currently open on Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm, September to May. The Library is currently closed on Sundays during June, July and August. The Britannia Branch is the only one of the four Area Branches in the City not open on a Sunday.
DISCUSSION
The Library is currently open 4 hours Sunday afternoon, at Central and in three of the four Area Branches, from September to May. Funding is being requested to allow the library to open Sundays year round and add Sunday service to the Eastern Branch service area, with the exception of Sundays immediately adjacent to a statutory holiday, as required by our Collective Agreement.
Library users consistently cite increased hours of operation as their number one priority for improving library service and more Vancouverites use library services per hour on Sunday than any other day of the week.
At the four Vancouver Public Library facilities open on Sunday in 2003, on average, a total of, 6,700 people visited a branch, borrowed 10,000 items, and asked 2,000 reference questions each Sunday. Opening these branches during the summer and introducing Sunday opening at Britannia will result in an estimated extra 140,000 items being borrowed and 100,000 additional visits to the library. The additional Sundays, as well as the opening of Britannia, will allow a greater use of the existing library resources.
Libraries enrich the life of every person in our community by providing access to the world's ideas and information. The library promotes lifelong learning, family literacy, the love of reading and exploration of ideas, culture, and knowledge in a welcoming, safe and lively atmosphere.
Additional Sunday openings meets one of the City's objectives to provide quality service equitably across the city. This is also an investment in the City's social and economic well being.
In 2003, Vancouver residents borrowed more items from libraries outside of Vancouver than the Vancouver Public Library lent to non residents of Vancouver. Better library opening hours on Sunday in Richmond and Burnaby contribute to this imbalance. Improvements in Sunday hours of operation will help reverse this trend.
While funding is not being requested at this time to increase the hours open on Sunday, our Collective Agreement now permits scheduling employees on Sunday between 9 am and 6 pm, without a premium. The estimated cost to add three hours to open for a full day on Sundays is $ 329,000.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Opening eleven additional Sundays in 2004, at the four locations currently open, will cost an estimated $ 132,000 in part time and casual staff, at 2004 wage rates.
The cost of opening the Britannia branch for four hours on Sundays all year, starting in September 2004, is estimated to be $ 10,000 ($ 32,000 annually), at 2004 wage rates..
The total cost of Sunday opening at Britannia and the additional Sunday at the four other locations is estimated to be $ 142,000 ( $ 164,000 annually), at 2004 wage rates.
CONCLUSION
This report proposes increased service levels on Sundays. Increased hours of operation, particularly on Sundays, is one of the top requests from library users. The improvements recommended in this report will greatly enhance public access to Library resources in all areas of the City.* * * * *