Whether you're hunting for a job, looking for a place to take the kids for an afternoon, seeking to learn about a new hobby or just trying to find the latest best-seller, chances are a Dallas Public Library could help you out.

But like so many other city services that residents have come to take for granted, there will be less of the libraries to go around come late September.

That's when the city of Dallas will adopt a new budget that shaves about $190 million from the planned $1.9 billion operating budget.

Libraries will bear a significant part of that burden. According to a June briefing, the library budget will slashed by a third to just under $22 million.

Under a proposal that must be approved by the council, most branch libraries will open for 23 hours week, less than half what they average now. The central library will close on Sunday and Monday, shaving 28 hours a week from its current 68-hour schedule.

All of the libraries will have to share in about 5,000 new books and other print materials the city can afford to buy, a stark drop-off from the 52,000 that the current budget year allowed.

Corinne Hill, assistant director of resource management for the library system, acknowledged it will be a difficult adjustment for many people.

"It is what it is. We won't be able to buy as many copies of things so people will wait longer," she said.

And they may find that their neighborhood branch isn't open at the hours they like to go there.

But, Hill said, the libraries will try to make the cuts less painful, largely by staggering hours at branches that are close to each other.

And even if there's only one copy of the latest best-seller, and it's already checked out, there are about 4 million other titles to chose from at the libraries.

"The thing to remember looking at the popular items is we are a library, not a bookstore. We have a very rich collection," she said.

But Dallas' libraries have developed into much more than a place to go to check out a book.

For some neighborhoods, they are the computer lab, the job resource center, the place for children's story time and more.

One of the busiest branches, Hampton Illinois in Oak Cliff, is an example.

On a recent morning, a group of high school volunteers were setting up a video game day for local kids. A grade school teacher was tutoring a young student. A grandmother was reading quietly with six of her grandchildren.

Sylvia Collins takes her grandchildren to the library most days, often for five or six hours at a stretch, she said.

"We can come here and read quietly. At home it's different. You can jump and run and play with colors or something else," she said.

Collins is among the lucky library patrons. Hampton Illinois and Arcadia Park are the two library branches that won't see their hours cut because they are connected to DISD schools.

For someone like Isabel Sarduy, that's very good news. She frequently goes to Hampton Illinois with her sisters for lots of reasons, she said.

"My little sister goes to [high] school, and we don't have a computer at home. This is the only way she gets her work done," Sarduy said.

Cuts in library hours will be inconvenient, but they don't worry David Kusin so much as the planned cuts to the new materials budget.

Kusin, chairman of the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, said the plan to stagger hours is a good one and most people should be able to find a library open not too far from their home or work.

"The materials budget is to the library what the brain is to the human body," he said.

Kusin said so far there's been little headway in persuading City Council members or the city management to increase the materials budget.

Though libraries have a strong constituency and organized representatives like the Friends group, there are so many competing demands at City Hall this year – and such large cuts needed – that getting support from the powers-that-be is more difficult than ever.

"People are making no commitments and no comments," Kusin said. "This is really an unprecedented situation the city of Dallas is in. There are no desk manuals on how to do it."

Proposed library budget for 2009-10

Amount needed to maintain current service

Number of new books and other print material budgeted for purchase in 2009-10 vs. 52,000 this year

Number of videos, music recordings, audio books and other media budgeted for purchase in 2009-10 vs. 20,000 this year

Proposed hour cuts

Central library: Will close Sunday and Monday, operating 40 hours a week vs. 68 hours currently.

23 branch libraries: Will operate 23 hours a week vs. an average of 47 hours currently.

2 branches: Hampton Illinois and Arcadia Park will remain open 55 hours per week