Sunday hours at the Main Library will end June 7, interim Library Director Glenda Williams said.
No other libraries in Long Beach's 12-branch system are open on Sundays. The Main has been open for about half the day -- noon to 5 p.m.
Terminating the Sunday schedule will save about $3,000 a week, Williams said.
The Main, which is already closed Mondays, will only be open Tuesdays through become a five-day-a-week operation with a Tuesday-to-Saturdays schedule. The Main had already been closed on Mondays.
Other libraries in the 12-branch system stagger days.
Long Beach funded 31 Sundays for the first half of the fiscal year, October 2008 to May 2009, when the City Council approved the budget.
The goal was to keep the Main, located in the Civic Center on Ocean Boulevard and Pacific Avenue, open on Sundays at least through the end of the traditional school year, according to a notice about hours on the library Web site.
There were hopes of raising money to fund Sundays for the rest of the fiscal year, but the economy worsened instead of improved, and funds could not be found, Williams said.
Long Beach Library Foundation Executive Director Sarah Pillet said foundation board members would likely discuss the Sunday hours at a meeting this week, but there are no immediate plans to try and raise money to restore them.
As corporate giving declines, the foundation is struggling to meet its other commitments, including funding the library's family learning center.
"We're going to keep our heads to the grindstone and get everything we can for the library," Pillet said.
The library may not be out of the woods. The city manager's office has warned of more likely budget cuts if Tuesday's statewide ballot measures do not pass.
Williams said she does not expect to see Sunday hours restored at the start of fiscal 2010.
A task-force organized by Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is looking into the possibility viability of a library tax to add hours throughout the system. A tax would require voter approval.
For a complete library schedule, visit www.lbpl.org/
location/library_hours.asp.
