by Zach Miller
Quick Summary
Library open hours are constrained by staff availability and library budgets, but the needs of patrons are best met when the library is open for as many hours as possible, including at irregular times such as early mornings, evenings, and holidays. Many of Minnesota's libraries are now taking the steps necessary to extend their hours, to the great benefit of their patrons.
Commuters need a library that is open in the evening, after the long drive home. Students need a quiet place to study outside school hours. Families need a quality place to spend time without being obligated to make a purchase, like they would be in a coffee shop. Remote workers need office space and Wi-Fi to meet career demands. Community organizations need a place to meet when their members are available, outside business hours. The list of patron needs for extended library service hours is a long one, and Minnesota libraries are responding.
On October 25, at the 2024 Minnesota Library Association Conference in Rochester, Minnesota, staff from four library systems offering extended service hours at one or more branches offered a panel discussion titled, "Keys to the Library: Extending Library Hours with Self Service Technology." The panelists were:
- Scott Duimstra, Library Director, Hennepin County Library (3 branches)
- Drew Wylie, Deputy Director, Washington County Library (1 branch)
- Barbara Svoboda, Branch Manager, Farmington Library, Dakota County Library (10 branches)
- Shawn Foster-Huot, Technology Manager, Dakota County Library (10 branches)
- Kristy Rieger, Technology Manager, Scott County Library (5 branches)
Key Takeaways
- In the panel discussion, each system representative reported increased library usage as a result of extended service hours.
- Extending the open hours of a library using self-service technology requires more, not less, staff effort. Despite its description it is in itself an additional service to patrons.
- Three of the four library systems use Bibliotheca Open+ technology. Dakota County Library uses Lenel System.
- Hennepin County Library's Osseo branch is located in the Osseo City Hall. When City Hall is open, the library is open as well. The library staff previously working there have been reassigned to other locations. The result is an increase in the number of hours the library is open.
- Extended service hours create new technology needs. At Dakota County locations, additional security cameras have been installed, new automated announcements have been programmed, and network port security and availability needs have increased.
- Scheduling system downtime and ILS maintenance hours now work around extended service schedules.
- Library equipment, such as printers and computers, must be more robust in order to function over longer hours, and in the absence of repair staff.
- Across the board, the greatest staff and patron concern was security. And yet, none of the library systems represented have had any serious problems with patron safety or building security.
Extended Service Hours, by the Numbers
Farmington Library
The extended service hours pilot program at Farmington Library ran from January to June, 2023. In January, at the beginning, just 82 users accessed the building during self-service hours. But that number grew quickly, and by the end of the pilot 4,726 patrons had accessed the library during its extended service hours.
Today, patrons use Farmington Library every day of the year, including holidays. So far this year (from January through October), the library has hosted a whopping 11,509 self-service patrons, and they account for 5.7% of the library's total circulation.
Scott County Library
Extended service hours were launched at the Jordan Library in September 2021, and 46 patrons signed up. Last month, across Scott County Library's five participating branches, 123 additional patrons signed up, bringing the systemwide total to 1,902 patrons.
