Humboldt County Library Cuts Hours

Those living in Humboldt County now have to deal with the Eureka branch (and possibly others) cutting five hours a week out of its schedule. This was done as a "proactive" step in light of California's ongoing budget crisis.

As anyone who follows these things knows, libraries are quick to be victims of budget cuts. In this case, the powers that be decided one of the best things they could do would be to cut the hours to save money in their reserves in case anything happens. Whether that's good or bad really depends on what you think the outcome of the budget crisis will be.

Patrons of the library are used to this sort of thing, and while I use the Eureka branch of the library, I doubt the time changes will affect me all that much. For others, however, this could be a major inconvenience. They will need to decide if five hours spread over a week, however, is better than the library either closing for full days (more than it is now) or closing period.

If you love your library and think it is vital to your community (which it is, if only as an information source), let it be none now. As California goes, so does the rest of the country.