Monday, March 25, 2002
Lodi Public Library opening on Sundays
The Lodi Public Library will have a new schedule beginning the week of April 7th. The library at 201 West Locust Street will open Sunday afternoons between 1 and 5 PM. The additional hours will bring the library’s service hours to 64 per week.
The library will provide all traditional library services during the four hour period. A reference librarian will be on duty to answer customers’ informational needs. Circulation staff will be available to check materials in and out, issue library cards and sign users up for the Internet access computers. "In the future, we hope the computer lab will also be available for use by the public on Sundays," said Nancy Martinez, library services director.
According to Martinez, this is the first time in the history of Lodi Public Library that the community has had access to library services on Sunday. In the county the library at University of the Pacific is open on Sundays and just last fall the Tracy branch of the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library opened for service on Sundays. "We’re thrilled to be able to offer library services to meet the public’s needs and schedules," said Martinez. Although Sunday hours may be new to Lodi, many libraries throughout the country have been offering service on Sundays for years. In fact, the "Springfield, Ohio branch of the Clark County Library System has been open on Sunday for over a hundred years." It seems when the library was commissioned at the turn of the last century, its benefactor insisted on Sunday hours because the residents of the town were largely factory workers employed Monday through Saturday.
Prepared by Nancy Martinez
Library Services Director
333-5540