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BRANCH LIBRARIES TO OPEN ON SUNDAYS BEGINNING THIS WEEKEND

D.C. Public Library Makes This and Other Customer Service Changes

Beginning Sunday, October 15, 2006, the District of Columbia Public Library will open its branches to the public on Sundays. In addition to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, all seventeen full-service neighborhood libraries in the city will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. each Sunday and now will operate seven days a week. The exceptions are the four small community libraries and the Deanwood Kiosk, which will continue to be open Monday through Friday.

"Sundays are generally when families spend the most time together so it's great they will now be able to make their local branch library a family activity where every member can find something they enjoy," said Ginnie Cooper, the D.C. Public Library's Chief Librarian. "Whether it's families or individual residents, we're going to be attracting groups of people who wouldn't normally have time to come to the library during the week. This is going to enable us to serve many, many more people who have information needs but perhaps did not have time to get their needs met."

Opening branch libraries on Sundays has been advocated by the Library for years and was noted in the draft report of the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of the D.C. Public Library System as a necessary step toward becoming a 21st century library. For Fiscal Year 2007, which began on October 1, 2006, the City Council of the District of Columbia approved the Mayor's request of $790,000 to fund the cost for staff to provide Sunday service hours, as well as $210,000 for supplies and materials.

In addition to the new hours, Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper announced that beginning immediately there is no longer an age limit for children to obtain a library card, and no longer will there be a children's handwriting requirement for a child to apply for a card. Now, parents and guardians may apply for a library card for very young children and it will be issued in the child's name.

Cooper says this change will help to encourage children to read at a younger age, which is a hallmark of her library philosophy. She continued by saying, "Our former policy is historically common, and may still exist at other libraries. I have had the pleasure of changing similar policies at other places." For more information, please contact Monica Lewis at 202-727-1186.