Budget woes strike again, this time with the Santa Barbara Public Library System cutting hours due to financial constraints.
Effective July 13, Mondays will find the Carpinteria, Montecito, and Solvang libraries closed, and as of July 1, the Goleta Library will open its doors at 2 p.m. rather than 10 a.m. on Mondays.
In addition to the changes in library hours, patrons who ask for a book to be held will be charged 50 cents at the time of the request, and interlibrary loans within the Black Gold system are $2, and $15 outside the system. Some services, such as the library’s bookmobile, will be terminated entirely. The library-on-wheels will return to the garage indefinitely on July 1, leaving patrons with no choice but to travel to a stationary library for their reading needs.
The library changes are the product of the much-debated adjustments created by the Santa Barbara City Council’s need to combat the city’s budget deficit.