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Englewood library to restore seven-day service after summer weekend closures; director outlines cross-training plan
Summary
Library Director Christine Underhill told the Englewood City Library Board that four recent staff resignations forced temporary weekend closures this summer and that the library expects to resume seven‑day service after Labor Day.
Library Director Christine Underhill told the Englewood City Library Board that four recent staff resignations — three of them without notice — forced the library to cut weekend hours this summer and operate Monday through Friday to maintain scheduled programs.
Underhill said the leadership team proposed the five-day schedule to ensure programs planned Monday through Friday could continue and to consolidate remaining staff so the building could stay open consistently. “We had 4 resignations and 3 of them were with no notice,” Underhill said, describing how the losses left the library unable to staff some weekend shifts.
The director said the library has been interviewing candidates and had a strong applicant pool. Underhill said the goal is to restore seven-day service “starting after Labor Day,” while also building staff resilience through cross-training. Underhill described priority cross-training between adult services, reference and circulation teams so more employees can cover multiple service points.
Underhill told the board she plans to coordinate with Human Resources and finance on training options and to consider inviting interested city staff to serve as occasional substitutes for library shifts. She said she has been in the role about six months and emphasized the objective of reaching full staffing before proposing larger personnel changes.
Board members and others praised the director’s transparency about the temporary closures and staffing plan. A board member said community members appreciated the clear messaging that weekend closures were a temporary measure to keep weekday programs running.
The discussion at the meeting also noted that phone and messaging problems during a citywide migration to voice‑over‑IP had briefly compounded access issues while the library was on a reduced schedule; Underhill said that situation has been fixed with IT and is being monitored.
No formal vote or ordinance was taken on staffing during the meeting. Underhill said hiring and training are in progress and that the library expects to resume seven‑day service after Labor Day, with ongoing efforts to recruit and cross‑train staff.
