Two full-time staffers have been hired to man the still-unopened Carolina Forest library, and two part-time employees are in the process of being selected.

This was the update Cliff Boyer, director of the Horry County Memorial Library System, gave to the members of the county’s administration committee at Friday’s meeting.

Boyer added that one of the hires - a full-time librarian - will allow the facility to remain open Monday through Saturday, as opposed to just five days. Originally, the plan was for the library to be closed Friday and Sunday.

Hopes are for the new library to open around mid-August. The installation of shelves has started and should be finished by Tuesday, Boyer said. Those shelves will accommodate the 17,000 books and other items in place for the library.

The status of the Carolina Forest library branch has been up in the air for quite some time.

Its doors have remained closed, despite the building being finished in December - months earlier than expected. There was no funding in place to hire staffers for the library since it wasn’t expected to be an issue until the recently completed 2013 fiscal year budget cycle.

The $4.1 million library wasn’t expected to be finished until April or May of this year.

“I can understand the community’s frustration,” Boyer said previously.

When the county passed its $132 million budget last month, included in it was more than $100,000 to fund two full-time and two part-time staffers to keep the Carolina Forest library open at least five days a week.

Contact BRAD DICKERSON at 626-0301.