Beaufort County library hours won't be cut, board decides
Beaufort County libraries will not cut their hours after a pair of tumultuous budget years and infighting with county administration.
Last week, the library system's board of directors voted to keep its most-visited Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island branches open the same amount of time. It will also ask the public to weigh in on ideal library hours.
The vote comes at the recommendation of new libraries director Ray McBride, who was hired in April and created a plan this summer to shift staff and fill existing vacant positions to avoid reducing library hours.
This spring, library leaders feared that without an increase in county funding they would have to reduce services and erase expanded hours the former library director had fought with county administrators to fund in 2013 and 2014. That funding increase never came, but McBride argued the hours would not have to change under his new plan.
Now the Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head branches will continue to be open 50 hours per week, and the Lobeco and St. Helena Island branches will remain at 40 hours per week, according to a news release.
To plan for future operating hours, the library system is also hosting a survey online to identify residents' ideal hours of operation.
Complete the survey online at http://bit.ly/1HZ1wcz.
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:Beaufort County library hours might not need to be cut after all, new director says, May 13, 2015Bluffton, Hilton Head libraries cooling off with new air conditioning this summer, May 7, 2015Beaufort County public libraries to cut hours this summer, April 27, 2015
Beaufort County libraries could cut their hours -- again, Feb. 25, 2015
This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 7:34 AM with the headline "Beaufort County library hours won't be cut, board decides."