Five O'ahu libraries to change hours starting Nov. 23

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer

Five O'ahu libraries — Pearl City, 'Aiea, 'Ewa, Wahiawa and the Hawai'i State Library — plan to change hours to address concerns from library workers.

The hours reflect a minor adjustment of some opening and closing times and a shuffling of days that some libraries are open, said Paul Mark, Hawai'i State Public Library System spokesman.

"This is an interim schedule," Mark said. "But after talking to patrons, it made sense to gain evening hours or provide the staff with two days off together."

This is the first change in hours since May when former state librarian Virginia Lowell reduced hours because of a mandate by the governor to cut budgets in every state department.

Thirty-one of the state's 50 public libraries went to a five-day, 40-hour-a-week schedule; the remaining 19 libraries were already on a five-day schedule.

The union filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Board citing concerns that included the plan's effect on the public and how its members could get two consecutive days off.

Now that a compromise has been struck, the union has withdrawn its complaint, said Nora Nomura, Hawai'i Government Employees Association field service officer.

Under the changes, the Hawai'i State Library will gain two hours and will now be open 42 hours per week, with a shift to longer hours on Thursday.

"The hours now are a reflection of a compromise," Nomura said. "Management had been trying to enforce a schedule rather than seeking staff recommendation at these libraries."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.