The Montevallo City Council voted Monday night to fund additional staff members for the new Parnell Memorial Library.

The council amended the library&8217;s budget by $7,000 through the fiscal year to pay for two part-time aides.

&8220;I&8217;ve looked at the figures, and it seems we have a pretty stable figure,&8221; said Mayor Sharon Anderson. &8220;I think it&8217;s a favorable number.&8221;

Councilwoman Hollie Cost made the motion to approve a library board request for more workers, which drew applause from the audience.

&8220;I think this will increase the hours to have the library open an acceptable amount of time,&8221; said Cost.

Library board members had been petitioning the council for weeks to pay for more staff, saying the library would have to cut back hours without help.

Foundation President Libbie Rodgers had said she feared the larger library will be understaffed when it opens later this month.

The new library on Park Road is three times larger than the current building on Valley Street. Rodgers said it would be dangerous to have so few workers overseeing several rooms and newer technology.

Board chairman Jane Clayton said a &8220;soft&8221; opening date is set for Friday, Feb. 2.

A grand opening celebration is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 25.

The brick building includes space for almost 20,000 books and several public-access computers.

The new library will also house a multipurpose meeting room, art gallery and theater