Contra Costa County's libraries are on their way to shaving $3.3 million, or 11 percent, of a $24 million budget by negotiating with cities to share costs of providing service, along with a host of budget cuts.

The county library system has reached deals with many of the 17 cities and towns that host 19 libraries. Contra Costa County controls five branches in unincorporated areas.

Each community was offered 35 hours a week of library service, including librarians and computer databases, in exchange for taking over maintenance costs, including utilities, janitors and landscaping, county Librarian Anne Cain said.

"Some of the libraries are open 60 hours a week. Some might be open less than 35 hours," Cain said. "They can provide more than the 35 hours if they pay for it themselves."

The county presented the options to the cities April 1. Some agreements have been completed, and others remain under discussion.

The county has also reduced expenses for secretaries and databases, eliminated vacant positions and cut other costs, Cain said.

The reductions have come as library use rose 9.7 percent during the 2008-09 fiscal year, in part because of the recession, she said. More people are flocking to the libraries to use computers to look for jobs, reading is up and families are taking advantage of low- or no-cost educational programs.

Antioch reduced its library hours from 52 a week to 35, said Lonnie Karste, a project manager

Concord was paying for exterior maintenance on its library, which is part of its civic center complex, said Assistant City Manager Valerie Barone. The city has taken over interior upkeep from the county and will keep the library open 52 hours a week by paying for an additional 17 hours of service.

Danville has been paying for all the maintenance costs since it opened a new library in 1996, Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said. The town is paying for 25 hours on top of its 35-hour county allotment, he said.

Walnut Creek is building a new library and now has a downtown branch and a second building on Oak Grove Road that the county owns. The city was unable to get the county to pay for maintenance for that building, so it is paying, Assistant City Manager Lorie Tinfow said.

"They asked us to take over the maintenance. We felt it was not really appropriate," she said.

Walnut Creek is kicking in for 21 extra hours of service a week at both branches for a total of 56.

Another benefit for Contra Costa is establishing a standard for the cities to replace piecemeal deals done over the past 60 years, Cain said.

"We had different situations where the county was paying for some things and the cities others," she said. "This was an opportunity to provide equity among the cities."