HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The mayor of Hendersonville has pushed Sumner County to extend the hours of their public library.
Hendersonville mayor Jamie Clary said Sumner County officials have, so far, ignored his requests to add more hours to the library, which is open for less time per week than the neighboring Gallatin library.
“I’m not real sure why they haven’t decided to open on Fridays and give it more hours,” Clary told News 2.
Hendersonville’s library is open 40 hours per week. By contrast, Gallatin’s public library is open 44 hours a week, including 9 hours on Fridays.
“I sent the Sumner County Library Board a letter about a month ago, and I have not heard back yet,” Clary said.
In that letter, Clary said the city would be willing to expand their own contributions towards the library if it meant increasing its hours. Hendersonville shares 50% ownership over the library with Sumner County, but the county has the final say on all library operations. Clary has wanted additional library hours for several years, but said a recurring reason for denying an extension of those hours has been cost.
“We now have a bequest of $321,000 from a Hendersonville resident, from a Hendersonville library patron [who passed away] that was given to the library,” Clary said. “We’re 50% owners of the library, so we’d like to have a say on where that money goes.”
As 2025 approaches, this issue with library hours is one Clary aims to have sorted out as soon as possible. Ultimately, the change would only lead to a difference of a few hours, so News 2 asked Clary why he thought the issue was worth pressing.
“You walk through the front door and immediately see the number of young kids and their parents that are walking in,” Clarry said. “That’s one of the main reasons, and the other reason is if you go upstairs, the computers are absolutely busy with senior citizens. So really, the beneficiaries of this bequest could be senior citizens and young children.”
News 2 reached out to Sumner County’s Library Board for a comment. Board Chair Joanna Daniels shared a statement with News 2, which reads, in part:
“At this time there is nothing preventing the Library Board from doing anything pertaining to public libraries hours. While the Board is responsible for Library Policy (including hours of operation), nobody has seen fit to bring an official proposal on the matter to us directly. The Library Board first heard about this on April 12, 2023 in a letter from Mayor Clary. However, since then, there has not been any official proposal from any officials including Mayor Clary. The Library Board has also not seen a public outcry for additional hours, nor are any of our libraries at capacity.”
Pertaining to the monies in the will, I have been told by a County Commissioner that the monies have to be accepted by the Sumner County Commissioners… we have not been informed of any such resolution.
At this time there is no resolution needed since it has never been decided that more hours are necessary.”
