THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 16, 1996 TAG: 9609160066
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 74 lines
The Virginia Beach sisters were both in the mood to curl up with good books Sunday afternoon, so they headed over to Norfolk's Kirn Memorial Library.
Nisa Leary, 10, checked out Roald Dahl's ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'' and her 17-year-old sister, Karlease Clark, chose ``Wuthering Heights,'' by Emily Bronte.
Time was, such a Sunday foray to the library would have ended at the locked doors. But Norfolk's main library is now open Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. for the first time in its history. It's a statewide trend that aims to accommodate changing lifestyles, said Sally Reed, Norfolk's new director of libraries.
Even though she's seen the movie, Nisa apparently doesn't believe a picture is worth a thousand words. She wanted to read Dahl's mouth-watering tale of a poor boy who wins a visit to Willie Wonka's fantastic candy manufacturing plant.
Her sister said the book choice was something of a departure for Nisa. Usually, she picks a sci-fi story, Karlease said.
``It'll take me a long time'' to read, said Nisa, a Newtown Road Elementary School fifth-grader, checking to see how many pages there were.
``One-hundred sixty-two,'' she said. ``No, I can read it in two days if I want to.''
Karlease chose Bronte's story of tragic love set in the desolate moors of England on the advice of a friend. She figured she'd finish it that night.
Both girls have Norfolk library cards, so when Virginia Beach Central Library is closed, they're not out of luck, even though it means a longer drive from their Bayside home.
Now, only Norfolk and Chesapeake offer year-round Sunday hours. Virginia Beach Central Library is open on Sunday afternoons from October through May.
In making the 200,000 or so volumes on its shelves available on Sundays, Kirn joins the growing ranks of libraries statewide that have expanded their hours to accommodate changing lifestyles.
Reed said the trend is a response to working parents who just don't have the time to take their children to the library.
A dozen people of all ages lounged on the library's steps Sunday waiting for the doors to open.
``It's worthwhile, from the looks of it,'' said librarian Bill Hill as more folks came in about 2 p.m.
Tim Heigh, another librarian working Sunday afternoon, said that more than 200 volumes went out on loan Sept. 8, the first Sunday the library was open.
``Parents with children, high schoolers, college students, adults - it's been fairly general as far as folks who come in,'' said Heigh.
Eunice Jones, on duty in the second-floor children's section, said she thought the new hours would be very popular with patrons.
``Everybody's working, and you have to juggle your schedule around,'' she said. ``You have to provide services when they're needed.''
Sonal Rastogi, 21, was typing book titles into the library's computer system to finish up some research for graduate courses in library science. She lives in Newport News, but works at a Norfolk library branch and attends classes at Old Dominion University and the University of Richmond as part of her Catholic University master's degree program.
Lance Downs, a 33-year-old Norfolk man, was browsing through the Sunday edition of The Washington Post.
``I was just down here and thought I'd stop in and read a bit,'' he said.
``We're thrilled,'' said Gail Cervarich as son Will checked out books. The 15-year-old Maury High School student attends afternoon classes at the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk.
He needed to find three monologues for Monday classes. ``Plays from the Contemporary American Theater'' and ``The Perfectionist,'' by Joyce Carol Oates, were just the ticket, he said, giving a thumbs-up to the new hours. ILLUSTRATION: RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Among the Sunday afternoon patrons at Norfolk's Kirn Memorial
Library were Wendy Brown and her 5-month-old daughter, Enfinity
Morring. Brown was making copies from a military aptitude test;
she's studying for a Navy entrance exam.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PUBLIC LIBRARY by CNB