The Windsor Public Library board has approved new hours for 2025 - and will now need final approval from city council.
During Tuesday's meeting, the board was presented with a report to increase services to seven days a week at all branches and also unify hours at all 10 branches in the city.
Approximately 25 people attended the meeting, with 13 delegates. The main concerns from the delegates included potential loss of programming within different branches, the loss of being able to go from one library to another when one closes, lack of transit to library locations on Sunday's with the new proposed hours, and gaps in hours.
Despite the list of delegates and the presented concerns, a motion was put forward to approve the recommendation - with the addition to have administration report back after six months and a year with data on the changes, and to have ongoing consultations with Transit Windsor regarding Sunday scheduling.
Helena MacKenzie, west end Windsor resident, says the new hours aren't accessible.
"There are a lot of people who rely on the three big branches having the extended hours, I'm a transit user and I will not be able to access the library's that will now be open on Sunday's because the Sunday transit schedule is not very good."
Katie Vlanich, CUPE Local 2067 President, says she's disappointed by the board's decision.
"I still feel like the board is missing the point of the difference between operational hours and access hours. Yes you are increasing hours operationally, I'm not denying that, I've never denied that in anything I've said, but there's no access. You cannot access library services under these new hours the way that you can now."
Heather Touma with the Windsor Rainbow Sports Club, says the club uses the library often for computers for registration, and other needs.
"85 per cent of my users are only available outside of work and school and other responsibilities - Tuesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 15 per cent of users are available at other times. If my small sample of people is only available during those times to do things outside of their responsibilities, more than likely other people also are only available those times as well."
Kieran McKenzie, councillor and vice-chairperson of the Windsor Public Library board, says people have been using the Sunday hours at the three library's.
"What we've seen already with the library branches that we have been able to open on Sunday's is there's been a pretty significant uptake. So, we felt as though - the board - there was some pent up demand to offer an increased level of service on Sunday's and we worked with the union and other community partners to arrive at a schedule that was feasible, that we thought we could pass through council."
He says there will be talks with Transit Windsor to improve Sunday services.
"Some of that service is scheduled to be improved in the fall of this year. So I think that we're going to have an improved level of service by the time we're implementing the hour changes that were proposed and approved."
McKenzie says it will take time to adjust but if it doesn't work it can be changed again.
"If the data bares out that there is a negative impact in terms of what we've done after we've had a long enough window of time to really evaluate the impact of those changes, then we have the opportunity and the ability to shift."
Vlanich says the union was not consulted on the new hours.
This report still needs final approval from city council - which is expected to be presented in September.
The new changes would see Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's operating from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
And Monday and Wednesday would see hours of 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
This new change would also get rid of "summer hours" for the library's and would see consistent hours through the entire year.
These new hours - if approved by council - would be implemented January 1, 2025.