I’ve written about museum hours before (here): I think they need an overhaul. Museums should open at night, because that’s when people have time for leisure activities. If it means opening later a few mornings a week, or closing an extra day, so be it.
Libraries, it seems to me, have an even greater responsibility to be open and accessible as much as possible. I was totally taken aback when I read here on ArtsJournal last week about the Seattle Public Library’s decision to save money by shutting its doors and even its website for an entire week. I don’t buy the logic, and I wrote why in an opinion column just published on Forbes.com called “Bookless In Seattle.” Here’s an excerpt:
The questions must be asked: Is it simply easier to close for a week, than to orchestrate more complex rolling closures? Is it simply more convenient for staff? Can you imagine a critical service business shutting for eight days without losing customers? Only a “monopoly” like a city library would try that.
The Seattle Library, with its Rem Koolhaas building, has basked in the glory of being a model for the 21st Century. It has a responsibility to live up to on this issue as well as on its architecture.