A group of residents has started a petition to expand the hours of the Albert Lea Public Library.

The library has been opened for five days a week — Sundays through Thursdays — since 2010 because of budget cuts.

Though the Friends of the Albert Lea Public Library would like it open every day of the week, the group is hoping the Albert Lea City Council will at least agree to adding back Fridays.

“We, as a board, said we need to let them know the voices we’re hearing as a group,” said Cindy Fjermestad, president of the Friends of the Albert Lea Public Library. “People are saying they want to have the library open.”

The cost of having the
library open one extra day a week — for about five or six hours — is estimated at about $25,000 annually, Fjermestad said. The group hopes the change can happen at the beginning of 2015.

Fjermestad and Barb Whiteaker, another member of the Friends of the Albert Lea Public Library, said they hear personal stories often about how the library has benefited people.

St. Theodore Catholic School uses the library with its students, many people come in to fill out job applications online, others come in to read newspapers and books and others come to check out movies, they said. Many children also enjoy the children’s library.

“What a wonderful opportunity to grow literacy,” Fjermestad said.

The library is primarily for Albert Lea residents but is open to all residents within the Freeborn County boundaries.

She said the library provides opportunities for people who don’t have a computer or Internet at home.

“It’s an absolutely invaluable resource,” Fjermestad said.

The petition is available in the Fountain Lake Bookstore on the first level of City Hall and at other checkout counters in the library. In addition, it will be at the Friends of the Library’s book sale on May 29 through 31.