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 hig...