Simsbury trustees keep evening hours after weighing small budget savings

The Simsbury Library Board of Trustees voted on April 20 to retain current evening hours, keeping the library open until 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Trustees had considered a proposal to shorten weekday evenings by 30 minutes to close at 8:00 p.m. as a way to achieve modest savings under the FY 2026–27 budget. Library staff said the savings would be negligible and that earlier closure would complicate programming schedules and leave a single staff member to close the building.

"The biggest impact to closing early would be with programming," the director said, noting that programs would need to be rescheduled and that staff would be left alone at closing. Trustees agreed the service impact outweighed the limited financial benefit and voted to keep the 8:30 p.m. closing time.

Trustees noted municipal budget proceedings remain active: the Board of Finance will hold a public hearing (6 p.m. at Town Hall) and then vote on the budget; if returned to the Board of Selectmen it typically returns with general guidance and possible adjustments. The director said staff will track circulation and program impacts to help quantify the effects of any future hour changes.

Action taken: a motion to keep existing hours was made and seconded at the meeting and carried by voice vote; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally.

The board also discussed the town's budget reductions to the library materials line (about $23,000) and a program reduction of roughly $1,700, and trustees said they would follow up with the finance director and town manager on potential offsets or year-end savings.

Quotes in this article are from the April 20, 2026 meeting transcript.