FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A popular county service affected by budget cuts is coming back to Fulton County.
Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves says the board has reached a compromise to return Friday hours to 10 locations, starting next week.
Cuts forced the county to scale back hours at its 34 libraries earlier this year.
In March, Channel 2’s Erin Coleman visited a north Fulton County branch where people showed up to find the doors locked.
"Don't we pay enough in taxes already? Why can't we keep it open?” a patron asked.
Since then, Eaves says he and other commissioners learned all kinds of taxpayers use the library.
“This is a priority because the library is one of the most popular services, service that we provide to our citizens,” Eaves said.
Commissioners voted unanimously in support of bringing back Friday hours.
The expansion applies to this current budget year.
“As we go through the budgetary process for 2015, perhaps we will fully restore the hours of the libraries every day of the week,” Eaves said.
Eaves says the county is shifting staff to accommodate the Friday hours without taking any money away from the budget.
“It's no additional dollars. We're using existing dollars to do this,” he said.
The Friday hours will return to the most popular branches in north Fulton, south Fulton and in the city of Atlanta.