HALLOWELL — Starting this Friday, the Hubbard Free Library will be open five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, thanks to a bump in funding from the city.

The city’s 2021-22 budget, approved Aug. 9, gives the library an additional $12,827 in funding. According to the city website, last year’s total was $42,000, and $54,827 was approved for this fiscal year’s budget.

As a result, the library will now be open on Fridays, in addition to Monday through Thursday and Saturday, starting this Friday.

Kenneth Young, president of the library’s Board of Trustees, said this will bring the library’s total number of weekly hours up from 21.5 to 25.

“There was some discussion about, should we spread those three and a half hours over the four-day schedule, but in the end, we decided that traditionally we’d been open on Fridays,” said Young, “and by adding back Fridays it would have the effect of increasing the availability of the library to people who might have (thought) that not having it open on Fridays was constraining.”

Under the new schedule, the library will be open from 2-7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, 2-7 p.m. Thursday, 2-5:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.

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In May 2020, officials from the library met with the city’s Finance Committee to request additional funding for the library. They asked for $68,040, or a $26,040 increase, to help the library stay open longer and stay afloat amid hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While this increase was in the initial draft of the 2020-21 budget, it was reduced to $42,000 before councilors approved the budget last August.

Looking ahead, Young said it’s likely the additional funding could also help the library — a nonprofit supported by, but not formally affiliated with, the city — eventually create new programs and offerings for patrons.

“Our plans aren’t firm on that, but essentially we have more hours to do more things in,” he said, adding this time could be used to create more opportunities.

At the height of the pandemic, the library hosted online programs via Zoom that would often garner a turnout of 40 to 100 guests. Young said that while the library may hold some in-person events, the extra time would more likely be used to create more online programs for young adults and children.

“I’m very enthused about it, and very appreciative about what the council was able to do,” he said. “We’ll spend every penny of it in the best way possible.”

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The library currently has four staff members: A director and three aides. Young said the board of trustees consists of 13 members, including two recent additions: Anya Trundy as treasurer and Emily Cook.

“(Trundy) has a good solid background in accounting and a graduate certificate in accounting,” he said, “and (Cook) is a deputy secretary of state and she’ll be joining us at the first meeting in September.”

Overall, Young said the additional funding has brought a feeling of optimism to the library.

“We’re ready to move from a discussion about scarcity, not enough hours, and not enough people in the library, to a discussion of how to move forward, build on what we’ve got, and do more,” he said.

Young said officials at the library see the funding as a vote of confidence from the city, and they’re looking forward to not just getting back to where they were, but moving ahead and having more people involved.

“Now that things are looking a bit better, everybody’s attitude seems to have improved tremendously,” he said, “not just ours, but the staff’s and the patron’s. You can almost imagine the step of many patrons is lighter than it was six months or a year ago.”

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