Longer hours at Arlington Heights library start in March

Longer weekend hours at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library will begin mid-March.

Executive Director Jason Kuhl said more than 2,800 people responded to an online and in-person survey asking whether they would like the library to be open later on Saturday, later on Sunday or earlier on Sunday.

After looking at the results, Kuhl said the responses were so evenly split, officials decided to try a little bit of everything.

Beginning in March, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, a change from its previous closing time of 5:30 p.m. On Sundays, the library will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. instead of noon to 5:30 p.m.

"We are excited. It's really all about being able to expand access and realize that everyone has busy lives and differing schedules," Kuhl said. "We want to be as available and accessible as possible."

The library has budgeted an extra $125,000 to pay for personnel costs for the pilot program through the end of 2016 and will discuss later if the extra hours will be a permanent change.