New Los Gatos Library Saturday Hours Temporarily Extended Through June 30

You used to have to wait until 1 p.m. on Saturdays to use the Los Gatos Library.

And then, you only enjoyed it for four hours since it closed at 5 p.m.

Now, thanks to a vote from the Los Gatos Town Council taken Tuesday evening, patrons will have three extra hours on Saturday, beginning March 3, to enjoy their new book house starting at 10 a.m.

That means users will relish the new building for seven hours total on that day!

Los Gatos Library Director Linda Dydo announced Wednesday the Saturday hours were temporarily extended partly to make up for the 26 days of no library in-house services after the old library closed Sunday, Jan. 15 to allow for the transition into the new $18.4 million, two-story, 30,000 square foot building, which celebrated its grand opening on Feb. 11.

"In honor of the well-received new library and the services sorely missed while the library was closed, the library will temporarily be open longer hours on Saturdays," Dydo said.

Los Gatos Councilwoman Diane McNutt explained the extension was granted during the mid-year 2011-12 budget report and the Council made adjustments based on revenues.

McNutt said during the past two weeks she's noticed the large amount of people who want to use the library on weekends because they work Monday through Friday. "I live so close and I see people waiting for the library to open on Saturdays," she said, adding that she suggested the extension of hours to allow patrons, particularly families with children and people who work during the week, to use the facility Saturday morning.

The new extended Saturday library hours will continue for four months through June 30.

The extra library services will cost $35,000, McNutt said. "It's an expense that I think is justified because the whole point is to provide the service to the community," she said. "There aren't that many libraries out there that are open seven days a week and the fact that we're going to be open for three extra hours [on Saturdays] is really special and shows our commitment to the library."

The library's hours of operation will be:

• 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday and Tuesday
• 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
• 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday
• 1-5 p.m., Sunday