On Jan. 4, 2026, The Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD) will be making some changes to the operating hours of our six branches. All our libraries will open earlier. Larger branches will be open a bit longer, and smaller ones will focus on their busiest, core service times.
While it’s true that we anticipate an over $830,000 drop in revenue due to declining oil and gas receipts, this isn’t a budgetary issue. It’s about the focused allocation of staff.
Our goal is to better match our staffing to local community demand. The total hours of operation remains the same. And to be clear: No staff are losing their jobs.
How did we get here?

• Over the past year, the library district analyzed door counter data to understand when and how often our libraries are used.
• We found that visits are highest mid-morning and early afternoon, and lowest after 6 p.m.
• Not all branches have the same level of traffic—larger libraries like Glenwood, Carbondale, and Rifle serve more patrons (have a higher population) than smaller libraries (New Castle, Parachute, and Silt). The larger libraries together account for more than 80% of our Sunday traffic.

What doesn’t change? The total number of open hours across the county will stay the same — 324 hours a week.
What’s different?

• All of our libraries will pick up an extra morning hour (9 a.m. instead of 10 a.m.) Monday through Thursday. Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Rifle will stay open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. New Castle, Parachute, and Silt will be open from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• On Fridays Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Rifle will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. New Castle, Silt, and Parachute just as now, will be open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m..
• On Saturdays, Parachute will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (the four hour shift covers the demand). All others will run from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• We will maintain current Sunday hours (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.) at Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, and Rifle. Effective January 4, 2026, there will be no Sunday hours at New Castle, Parachute, and Silt. There just wasn’t enough traffic to justify the staffing costs. But residents of Parachute, Silt or New Castle can still get to Sunday library service within a 20 minute drive.

What are the benefits of the shift?

• Data-Driven Decision: Hours are based on actual patron usage, not assumptions.
• Better Service: Hours align with when patrons most want to visit.
• Efficient Staffing: Staff schedules match high-traffic times. Right now, we find ourselves overstaffed in some locations and hours, and desperately understaffed in others.

Thank you to our branch managers, who participated in the study and analysis, and to our board, for reviewing the data and approving the change. Thank you, too, to our patrons, who deserve our awareness of their use patterns and a thoughtful response to them.

Jamie LaRue is Executive Director of the Garfield County Public Library District. His opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Library Board of Trustees. Please email comments to jlarue@gcpld.org.