By the end of the month, it’s likely Philadelphia’s 54 libraries will be open three or four days a week according to library officials, who are still tweaking the numbers. The Central branch, however, will remain open seven days a week because Pennsylvania’s state library law mandates the city keep open its main branch at least 65 hours a week. If a four-day-a-week schedule for the neighborhood branches is adopted, the library system will either have to cut its LEAP after school homework program or offer it once or twice a week rather than five days a week as it does now. A four-day-a-week schedule also means half the libraries will be open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday; while the other half Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

With this type of schedule, staff will be assigned to work at two separate libraries during the week. The city’s budget cuts have already left the library system down 111 positions: 49 staff members received pink slips, and the other 62 jobs were left vacant. Now, library officials expect an additional 20 to 30 employees will also lose their jobs to keep up with the costs of running the 11 libraries, which were slated to close December 31st, but now remain open by court order.

As a result of staff shortages, library officials anticipate rolling closures to start occurring at the branches. That means you could walk over to your local branch on a day it’s supposed to be open and find it closed because not enough staff were available to work that day. The limited library service will continue most likely until some resolution comes about, whether that happens through the courts, City Council or some other intervention unknown at this time.

Given the latest circumstances, we want to know if you think the city would be better off with a four-day-a-week library system and rolling closures, or closing the 11 libraries and having a six-day-a week library system. Make sure to take our poll below.

Is this fiasco the result of the law of unintended consequences? Let’s figure it out and recall the chain of events. Back in November, Mayor Michael Nutter announces $108 million in budget cuts, which includes shutting down 11 of the city’s 54 libraries. City residents hit the streets to protest and let the Mayor know of their disapproval at a series of town hall meetings. The Mayor stands by his decision.

But upset city residents, along with the union representing library staff, make a case in Common Pleas court against the Mayor’s planned action to close the 11 libraries December 31st, which would leave the city with 43 libraries operating full time six days a week. They argue Nutter is violating a 20-year old municipal law that requires the mayor to get City Council approval before closing city buildings, which is something Nutter didn’t do. Judge Idee Fox agrees with the plaintiffs, tells the Nutter administration to follow the law, and issues an order keeping the 11 libraries open until the administration cooperates.

The Nutter administration disagrees with the ruling, and appeals the decision now on its way for review in Commonwealth Court. In the meantime, the Mayor says the city will follow Judge Fox’s ruling. But in order to keep the 11 libraries open, the city has to slash hours at all libraries to help save money. And perhaps that’s where the unintended consequence lies.

In the meantime, while the city waits for the appellate process to get under way, Nutter could go before City Council and ask for approval to close the 11 libraries. If he does, would City Council actually support the measure? After all, in December, the council voted 12-5 in favor of a non-binding resolution to postpone the closures of the 11 libraries; and Council members Bill Green, Janie Blackwell, and Jack Kelly filed suit against the administration on the issue, citing city council approval.

Library patrons against the closures aren’t backing off either. Advocates from the Friends of the Free Library group continue to organize around the restoration of library services. In the long run, the group is advocating for Philly to have an expanded Central library (which has been delayed) and a fully staffed 54 branch system by 2015. The organization’s director, Amy Dougherty, will be laying out various strategies to do so, and points to a special library tax as one example.

We want to know what you think about all this. Do you believe Philadelphians will now have a worse library system than if the 11 libraries had been closed? Feel free to comment but definitely take our poll below. Based on how things have turned out, we want to know what kind of library system you now support.