Monday is a federal holiday - commemorating Columbus' landfall in the Americas - but not everyone will have the day off.

Students in the Santa Maria Valley should be in classes Monday, with the Guadalupe Union, Orcutt Union, Santa Maria-Bonita, and Santa Maria Joint Union High School districts all in session.

Santa Barbara County offices will be open, as will Santa Maria City offices. However, the library will be closed to allow for an upgrade in the Black and Gold Cooperative Library System.

In addition to the Santa Maria branch, the Cuyama, Guadalupe and Orcutt branch libraries will be closed Monday. All branches are expected to be open Tuesday.

Both the Santa Barbara County Superior Courts and the administration offices for the Santa Maria Public Airport District are closed Monday for the federal holiday.

Additionally, post offices are closed Monday and mail won't be delivered. Banks also will observe the federal holiday.

While Columbus Day has traditionally been Oct. 12, the U.S. government observes the holiday on the second Monday in October.

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The first official recognition of the day came in 1892, 400 years after the Italian navigator's voyage, when President Benjamin Harrison urged Americans to commemorate the day, according to the Library of Congress.

October 6, 2007