Starting this week, a few library locations will be intermittently closed due to staffing shortages.
The Washoe County Library System says this comes after voters turned down a ballot question that would have supported continued funding for libraries.
Now they're unsure if they can afford to fill dozens of vacant positions.
"We don't know what our budget is going to be for 2027 and beyond, and because of that, we're a little bit hesitant to be bringing some new people on," said Brad Bynum, marketing and communications for the library system. "Some positions that are essential have been filled, but a lot of them have been left vacant, and because of that, we don't have enough workforce to cover everything."
Bynum says this is also forcing them to participate in fewer outreach programs. Some branches have tons of volunteers, but others do not, and there's limited help volunteers can offer.
He tells us most scheduled off days are on weekends since those days have the least staff working.
He says closures will start this Friday with the downtown Reno location. North Valleys will be closed on Saturday, the Sparks location on Sunday, and then North Valleys again next Monday.
Varied closing dates will continue through October 10.
Bynum says more specific close dates could continue to be scheduled all next year, but will be kept as minimal as possible.
You can find the rest of the scheduled close dates for each location by clicking here.
