Residents in the Santee community expressed concerns regarding the lack of hours that Santee Public Library is open for the community.
Folks who rely on services provided at the library, such as computers, WiFi and reading materials say it’s hard to do anything when the public space is barely open.
The Santee Public library is only open four days a week, and only stays operational for three to four hours a day. These hours of operation do not include weekends.
The Orangeburg County library director of services , Anna Zacherl explains why this is the case, “Operating cost is huge. We have the building sometimes, we have the space, but we don’t have the man power to staff the building.”
Zacherl explains that this all falls back on the budget, and the fact that funds need to be rationed out accordingly.
“We’re operating at about $1.5 million…and that takes care of all six of our branches, " says Zacherl.
In comparison, Richland County gets a budget of over $40 million for library costs.
The county will be build a new library in the downtown area on Russel Street, as well as in the North area. The groundbreaking for the Russel Street location is set for this spring.