Sunday, Sunday...

Today was the end of an era in Devon Libraries as the Exeter Central Library opened its doors on a Sunday for the last time. Eight years ago Sunday opening was launched as a way of widening access and enabling the service of meeting the then Government's criteria of having at least one library open for 55 hours or more a week. The service was initially launched as a six week pilot, but proved popular enough with the limited publicity it gained to warrant a policy of permanent Sunday opening. Admittedly the opening hours were always a compromise between what the staff wanted and what was likely to be popular with the public, which meant the library was open from 11am to 2.30pm, but the footfall through the door told staff that even with the slightly odd opening hours the service was appreciated. Many of the people who came in used the Sunday service every week, with the Children's library in particular proving very popular. Equally, a good number of Sunday customers told staff that it was the only time they could get to the library and have time to browse properly.
In July, the second phase of restructuring was announced to staff, along with the revised opening hours for libraries across the service. It came as no surprise to the staff that the consultation document contained the axing of Sunday opening as part of the service revision for Exeter Central. The staffs has suspected that this was a likely move as it was well known that the Sunday service had had relatively high staffing costs compared to the level of footfall through the building. At first the staff sighed and said in a resigned way 'oh well, it was inevitable really', then stopped and thought again. Yes, staffing costs at the outset had been high, but since then the amount of staffing in the building had been reduced owing to the process of reviewing every post as it became vacant and the recent freeze of vacancies. The library was running on Sundays with around half the staff which had originally been thought necessary for the day and was managing to provide a decent service. At busy times borrowers may have to wait slightly longer than usual and the level of use in the Children's library meant it was an extremely busy few hours for the member of staff manning the department, but it could be done. With the addition of self-issue machines later in the year, it would have been perfectly possible to continue to run the Sunday service with the reduced level of staff. As such the Sunday staff mounted a campaign to senior management to try and save the Sunday service. The library also offered the only public computer and internet access in the city centre as there are no longer any internet cafes which open on a Sunday (in fact, I believe there is only one place still acting as an internet cafe in the whole city regardless). Considering how many people came in to use the computer service, the Sunday closure was obviously going to have a big impact. Sunday opening also generated a significant amount of income through the hire of DVDs and other hire charges as these items were often the most borrowed.

The response of senior management was that the public consultation on opening hours had shown that Sunday opening was the least popular and that footfall on Sunday's was lower than other days. The staff responded by saying that although fewer people used the Sunday opening than Saturday's, they knew how valued it was by those who used it, and with the reduction in evening opening hours which was coming they felt that the option of using the library on a Sunday would become even more important. It was also noted that the reduced opening hours for St Thomas, Pinhoe and Topsham libraries was likely to impact on the usage of Exeter Central Library and as a result Sunday usage might both increase and help to offset the loss of hours at these other libraries. A comparison by Sunday staff of the footfall through the building during the opening hours with the footfall on other days during the same time period revealed that the footfall was easily as high, and in some cases higher, than other days of the week. The staff also spoke up for Exeter Central Library being only one of a handful of libraries in the entire country that opened on a Sunday, and the only service below Bristol that offered Sunday opening. It was felt that this should be a cachet for the service and should be promoted and celebrated rather than closed down. In addition, it was pointed out that Sunday opening had never been promoted and advertised particularly well. The pilot scheme had been launched on a soft opening, but there had not been a big push of advertising once the service became permanent. The staff knew from talking to borrowers over the counter than many regular users still hadn't fully appreciated that the library was open on Sunday's at all. As a result the Sunday staff suggested a stay of execution for the service until Christmas. The service could be promoted in a 'use it or lose it' kind of way with a big push on awareness of Sunday opening and the level of usage monitored. In the meantime the staffing could be recalculated to see if costs could be brought down, and most of the staff was willing to work on a reduced weekend enhancement in order to help preserve the service. The staff could also conduct a more targeted consultation with Sunday users to see how many were using the library on that day because they could not reach the library on any other day.

Sadly it was all to no avail, and the decision to close Exeter Central Library on Sunday's was announced as part of the final Phase 2 plan in August. Rather frustratingly, staffs were not allowed to make this fact known to the public as they were not allowed to discuss the proposed new opening hours until the end of August with their borrowers. As a result, the Sunday users of the library have only had a months’ notice that the service was being withdrawn. I suspect that many people will arrive outside the doors next Sunday to be disappointed on finding the doors shut and the building in silence and darkness.