Erie County Public Library to cease Sunday service operation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2020
CONTACT:
Sheryl Thomas
sthomas@eriecountypa.gov
814-451-6911
Erie, PA –The Erie County Public Library will discontinue Sunday service hours at Blasco Memorial Library, effective Sunday, July 19, through the end of 2020.
The Erie County Public Library consists of five physical locations, a bookmobile, and two satellite locations operated in conjunction with the Housing Authority of the City of Erie. Of all of these, only the Blasco Library has provided Sunday hours. All other locations are closed on Sundays.
Blasco began its Sunday library hours approximately 15 years ago because of a desire to be open to the public. Sundays are usually a busy day for public libraries, and it was seen as a good opportunity for the Blasco Library from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“This Sunday service is built upon a completely volunteer schedule of employees,” said Blane Dessy, director of Erie County Public Library. “This system has worked reasonably well over the past years, but it is different now in this time of COVID-19. Because we have no management ability to assign staff, we are faced with a service that we can no longer maintain. During this hiatus, the library management team plans to identify options for reinstating Sunday service in the future.”
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