Now that school is back in session, many parents need to take their kids to the library on the weekend. But St. Joseph County's money problems are making that more difficult to do.

Mary Medich of Granger has a Good Question: “Why are the public libraries closed on a Saturday afternoon and early evening?”

The beautiful new German Township Library sits near the intersection of Cleveland Road and Portage Avenue in South Bend, but on both Saturdays and Sundays it is closed. The St. Joseph County Public Library system took a major hit when Indiana's new property tax caps started. They limit how much homeowners can pay, but took away money from local governments.

Library spokesman Dave Hanna says during 2009 the drop in funding for libraries is $1.8 million. Next year it goes up to $2.1 million. The library is making up part of that deficit by not replacing people who leave or retire ― so far up to 40 workers.

But the other method is dropping hours. Only the downtown South Bend branch is open on Sundays, and only two other branches have part-time hours on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2.

That means a new library which cost $4 million to build sits empty on weekends.