Library to stay closed on Sundays for foreseeable future

The City of Greater Geraldton says it isn’t considering re-opening the library on Sundays after business hours were altered following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The library previously opened for three hours on Sundays, with an average of 150 people walking through the doors.

But that all stopped when COVID-19 hit and the library closed under public health restrictions in March 2020.

When the library re-opened its doors in May 2020, the City decided to completely shut on Sundays.

In a post to social media, Geraldton resident Jenny Kessell asked the City to consider operating for a second day on weekends.

The post attracted more than 70 likes on Facebook.

“The limited opening hours are not ideal and the library should be open for people to access on weekends,” one person commented. “Yes, agreed it should be open on Sundays,” another said.

But City of Greater Geraldton Regional Library manager Trudi Cornish said it was not something the City was considering.

“It’s really cool and very exciting and so heart-warming to see that people want the service extended,” she said.

“That in itself is a real positive to start with.

“It would have to be something that is considered as an additional budgetary item.”

Ms Cornish said Saturdays were by far the busiest day of the week for her team and none of the other libraries located in regional WA was open on Sundays either.

Back in 2015, when the library opened on Sundays from 1.30pm-4.30pm, then Geraldton Mayor Ian Carpenter said Sunday was one of the busiest days of the week, with about 50 people visiting every hour.

Ms Cornish said the library had a full working team and had not struggled to fill vacant positions like other City departments.

“I know it has been challenging for other teams to recruit,” she said.