Hallelujah rang out from the group of Louviers residents who packed into Highlands Ranch Library on April 16 as they heard the fate of their library.

The Louviers Library will remain open, but its hours of operation will be reduced to half in order to cut the district's expenditures by 50 percent said Aspen Walker, executive assistant to the library director.

"Residents were very happy," Walker said. "There was a positive feeling and (Louviers residents) thanked the library district for allowing a task force that could provide alternatives to closure."

Come August, Louviers Library will be open two days a week for three hours a day. A month ago, library director Jamie LaRue proposed closing the library branch to help reduce the district's operating budget by 7 to 10 percent since failure to pass two mill levy increase proposals and lower property values will guarantee a decline in tax revenue this year.

With the record turnout of Louviers residents at the March 19 Douglas County Libraries meeting, a community task force was organized to suggest alternatives to closing the Louviers branch.

Of the task force's alternatives, Walker said the board accepted the option to reduce hours unanimously.

"There will be one Douglas County Library employee staffed at Louviers as well as one volunteer from the community," Walker said. "If there is no volunteer at the library, then it will be closed that day as a safety measure since we cannot have an employee staffed alone."

Walker added that finding a library volunteer shouldn't be a problem in Louviers because so many residents remain passionate about their library. Also, Walker said, there is the possibility of establishing a partnership between Louviers Library and the University of Denver school of library sciences.

If the partnership follows through, Louviers Library could be staffed by students for the price of giving them real-world experience.

Jamie LaRue said Douglas County Libraries will continue courier service to Louviers through the end of the year; after that, he said, they will have to see what next year's revenue will be.

Castle Pines North also had something to celebrate April 16, as the city wants their own full-service library in the Village Square development in place of the existing bookmobile service.

A three-year lease on a 2,500-square-foot space in Village Square is being negotiated, with two years of the lease provided free of cost to the library district LaRue said. Castle Pines residents have raised more than $30,000 towards the $50,000 a year operational costs it will need for the library.

Residents in the CherryValley area on the other hand, learned that their satellite branch will close in June. The library board is considering extending a book mailing program to CherryValley so the elderly and house-bound can continue to have access to books.

Residents and the library board have until August to see how their decisions will unfold for the future.

"August is a big month," Walker said. "Not only will the new hours for Louviers begin, but the library board will revisit and review their decisions based on the budget for 2010."

LaRue anticipates tax income from properties will be flat or falling by the time 2010's budget is reviewed.

"We'd better get ready for harder times and whittle down things now, so we don't have to face more cuts," LaRue said.