Bookworms will be able to feed their habit seven days a week if plans to open the York's Central Library on Sundays are given the go-ahead.

Civic leaders are to consider opening the Museum Street library for an extra five hours on Sundays in a bid to make it more attractive to families.

They are also looking at proposals to extend opening hours at branch libraries in Acomb, Tang Hall and Haxby to include Saturday afternoons and evenings.

Officers say the moves would help City of York Council to close the gap on Whitehall standards for library access and standards.

Last year the council increased the number of hours York libraries open, but there is still a shortfall of 58 hours a week across the service.

But finance chiefs say the authority can only afford to meet a quarter of the shortfall, at a cost of £38,000, in this financial year.

Libraries manager Janet Thompson said it might be difficult to recruit temporary staff for the pilot project, which is expected to last five months. She said negotiations with staff representatives of the union Unison had begun.

Mrs Thompson said plans to house a caf in the music room at the Museum Street library were still going ahead. She said an alternative home for the sheet music would soon be found, as well as a suitable partner caf business.

Updated: 10:23 Tuesday, June 10, 2003