Change in Public Service Hours for Russell Library

Russell Library announced a change in public service hours to lower operating costs in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, 2016.  

The new hours, effective July 5, 2016, will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays all year; and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays from October through March.

Access to online services through the Library’s website (www.russelllibrary.org), with a library card, will not be affected.

Geen Thazhampallath, president of the library board said, “Adjusting to the slightly different hours may be hard for some patrons initially, but it’s something we had to do to protect other products and services of our great library from budget cuts. We really worked hard to minimize the impact on staff and the library’s broad collections.  It wasn’t an easy decision, but we are confident that Russell Library will continue to provide high quality service to the citizens of Middletown even with the reduction in hours.” 

Library Director Matt Poland said that the decision was data driven through an analysis of the library’s patron utilization patterns. “Department heads and other staff examined every area of library service including circulation, door count, computer use, and program attendance to make data driven decisions,” Poland stated. “We have built flexibility in the new schedule that will allow us to continue our robust and popular programming in the evening.”

Thazhampallath added, “Public entities and organizations supported by tax dollars like the Library had to make hard choices to operate in the next fiscal year. The Library’s fiscal challenges point out the importance of diversified revenue streams that allow us to start slowly shifting away from our dependence on State and City resources as much as possible through fundraising, philanthropy, foundations, grants and collaborations.”

For More Information Contact:

Matthew K. Poland, Library Director, 860-347-0196, mpoland@russelllibrary.org