Gwinnett library officials want restored funding in 2014

LAWRENCEVILLE - Officials with the Gwinnett County Library System are hoping the county will restore some lost funding in the upcoming budget.

According to a report in the Gwinnett Daily Post, library officials went before a citizens panel and Gwinnett County Commission Chair Charlotte Nash Monday night, asking the county to give the system an additional $1 million in funding. That, according to acting director Liz Forster, would keep the library system from dipping into reserve funds. And it might even make it possible to restore some lost hours.

There are fifteen library branches in the Gwinnett system. The hope is that each one can operate 50 hours a week if the additional money becomes available. Before the economic downturn, each branch was operating more than 70 hours per week, according to the newspaper report.