Garfield County’s libraries will soon stay open longer and have more materials, thanks to voters approving ballot issue 6A earlier this week, which raises revenue for the libraries through increased property taxes.
6A will generate about 4 million dollars a year for Garfield County Libraries, which have had to cut services and hours in recent years in the face of a funding shortage.
Technically, the new revenue becomes available in January, but executive director Brett Lear says patrons will start seeing changes immediately.
"You know, we’ve got these long waiting lists for popular materials, sometimes 60 or 70 people long, so one thing that we’re going to do right away is start buying more copies of those popular titles," he said.
He says the libraries will also purchase more e-books, as well as recruit the new hires that will allow the libraries to restore their hours and be open on Saturdays.
Lear expects the libraries to expand their hours in January or February of next year.
