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Gunnison library staff report hires, a resignation and ask state for flexibility on night hours
Summary
Library staff announced three new hires and a recent resignation, outlined shift coverage and said the board will ask the state librarian to reconsider night/weekend hour requirements to better fit rural patron patterns. The board discussed summer programming and grant strategies.
Library staff told the Gunnison Library Board the library has hired three new employeesCatherine Byington, Elena Lambert and Eli Petersonand that a part-time employee named Aura resigned after a medical leave. Staff described current coverage plans (Eli for after-school hours, Catherine covering Wednesdays) and said the board will post openings for additional daytime help to cover Monday and Tuesday 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. shifts.
Staff framed the staffing changes as part of a plan to reduce overtime and maintain story time and youth programming. "We've hired some new staff ... Aurora was gone for a month and a half for a surgery, and then she came back and then she called me on Friday and quit," the staff member said, describing how the library redistributed shifts to cover service hours.
The group also discussed state library requirements for member libraries' hours. Staff said the state requires a minimum number of night and weekend hours (described in the meeting as "8 night and weekend hours" with 'night' defined starting at 5 or 6 p.m.) and that rural usage patterns make late hours less productive. "We would like to be shut down by 6PM every night," the staff member said; she reported that a state representative (Mary Lee) agreed the point was valid and will raise it at an upcoming statewide meeting to seek flexibility.
Finally, staff reviewed programming plans and grant outreach. The summer reading theme will be "Unearthing a Story." Staff proposed community programs (Lego club, art classes, tutoring nights) to boost patron counts and strengthen grant applications; she noted program attendance helps with state certification and grant competitiveness.
