Under the agreement with library employees, all county libraries will be open Saturdays this summer from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On weekdays, the headquarters in Belvidere will open 9 a.m. and close 8:30 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The branches will also open earlier at 9 a.m. and close 8 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The new agreement was instituted July 7 and will remain in effect until Labor Day, after which winter hours kick in.

"We're trying to make it more user friendly for our patrons," said Library Director Richard Moore. "The expansion of the hours is part of a larger scale attempt to make ourselves more accessible and more convenient to use."

In March, library commission members adopted a resolution to expand the summer hours. Moore suggested changing the hours to accommodate patrons, but library employees and their local union questioned whether the changes could be made under their current contract.

In the past, county libraries instituted shortened hours in the summer -- the library headquarters opened 9 a.m. five days a week and closed at 8:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The Catherine Dickson, Franklin, and Northeast Branches opened 10 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and were open the same hours as Belvidere the other days. All four libraries were closed on Saturday and Sunday.

In September when winter hours take effect the libraries open 9 a.m. and remain open until 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the library headquarters and until 8 p.m. at the branches. All county libraries close 6 p.m. on Friday in the winter and are open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Library employee Karen Hahn, who serves as the shop steward/union representative for the county libraries, called the agreement "a good thing" for everyone.

"We're going to be open and we're going to serve the public as we always have," Hahn said of the negotiations. "At this point I don't think any employees are dissatisfied. We all worked together to solve the problem."

Moore said the new summer hours work hand in hand with other changes being instituted. Library patrons will soon be able to borrow DVDs, new and old, for a seven-day period; put a reserve on all DVDs, new and old; and borrow other formats, including books, games, recorded books, music CDs, and other items, for 28 days. Previously new DVDs had a two day limit and no renewal or reserve ability.

In addition, patrons can borrow up to 50 items per card, which was previously limited to 25. People can also borrow a total of 10 DVDs at a given time, in lieu of the six DVD limit, and renew DVDs that are not reserved by others.

For more information about the library, their materials and services, log onto www.warrenlib.org.

Staff Writer Jacqueline Lindsay can be reached at (908) 852-5103 or jlindsay@njnpublishing.com.