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JUNEAU - Juneau Public Libraries will end reduced operating hours on Aug. 18, while changing some times in Douglas and downtown.

Library hours were reduced this summer in response to the city's energy crisis, caused by avalanches that resulted in increased electricity costs. The downtown library was closed on Tuesdays, and the location in Mendenhall Valley was open only until 5 p.m. on Fridays to help save electricity.

Starting on Aug. 18, the downtown branch will re-open on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and it will stay open until 6 p.m. on Fridays.

The extra hour on Fridays will give patrons time to pick up items after work for the weekend, administrative assistant Barb Neal said.

The Douglas branch for the first time will open on Fridays, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The Mendenhall Valley location will open at 10 a.m. on Fridays and close two hours earlier than before, at 7 p.m.

The two-hour reduction in Friday operating hours in the valley allowed the staff to open the Douglas branch that day, Neal said.

A schedule showing all branch operating hours is available at www.juneau.org/library.