Our civic leaders went behind closed doors halfway through the session dealing with the matter.

Changes to the opening hours, including closing on Saturday, were to be discussed according to the council agenda.

The council ruled, after a move by Cr Shirley Hortin, that the debate should be kept confidential due to staffing being discussed.

Under Section 90.3(e) of the Local Government Act, the public can be excluded from the meeting on matters affecting the security of the council, members or employees of the council, or council property or the safety of any person.

“The council is satisfied that pursuant to ... the Act, the information to be received, discussed or considered in relation to this agenda item is information the disclosure of which would involve the unreasonable disclosure of information concerning the negotiation between council, library staff and the Australian Services Union over the library roster,” the move read.

The council minutes say that no decisions were made under confidentiality. The discussion paper in the agenda says that staff have been challenged to maintain service levels since the library trialled increased opening hours to coincide with the move to the new building, in Wandearah Road.

The paper states that library hours increased from 42 hours to 53 hours a week and the library went from six days a week to seven days a week under the trial.

“There are extra award conditions that are attached to operating seven days a week which also have significant budget implications, some of which are not included in the council’s budget,” the discussion paper states. “As with any alterations to council services, there is a cost implication.

“The increased operating hours has resulted in increased costs, particularly those associated with staffing and electr-icity.”

The discussion paper suggested that the library be closed on Saturday and at 5pm four nights a week, but for it to remain open until 7pm on a Thursday.

The library would still open from 1pm to 5pm on a Sunday. This would reduce the opening hours by seven per week.