Our library closed 13 Mar, and all materials already checked out were extended to 1 July. They reopened in late May for “curbside” pickup – call them and tell them which of the designated parking spaces you were in and they’d bring out your book(s), along with a wheelie bin for you to put your returns in. That lasted about a week; then they started putting books to be picked up on tables in the airlock, with a big box for returns. They actually reopened on 22 June – masks required, computer use limited to one hour, no more than fifty people.
I put my first two books on hold the first day I could, and picked them up two days later; I’ve been making regular visits ever since. The books are in plastic bags with the customer’s name on them – I just open the bag as soon as I get home and throw it in the trash.
No problem. I just got around it myself. Called my local library and a real person actually answered the phone (I was expecting voice mail or an answering service). They managed to get a pdf of the article and emailed it to me.
That is excellent service! Our library closed mid March and about a month ago began providing drive through service. You put your books on hold via their website and pick up at the drive through window. Library book giver outters wear masks and gloves. Returned materials are disinfected and are isolated for 3 days after return. I’m awaiting the day when I can go into the library and browse.
Try looking online for your library’s newsletter-it will detail out all the precautions that they are taking to protect staff and patrons. Mine even has online virtual book clubs where you can get together and talk books-great way to get tips on good books new to you.
Call ahead or do online hold requests so your books are ready to snag and run. No lingering around to find/pick out books from the shelves. It’s the time spent breathing indoor air that has recently been exhaled by others that is the risk. Get in and out, right after the doors open.
My library has reserved the first hour of the day for high risk people (like me). The air is clean from the building being empty and ventilated overnight, as well as high touch surfaces were cleaned extensively overnight. The experts now think that contact spread is much less likely than they thought in the beginning. So books really aren’t a risk to handle. My library doesn’t touch a book to check it back in until it has sat on a cart for 3 days, I’m sure yours does too.
Glad to hear I have a fellow traveler who was counting the seconds until they could get their hands on some books. Read in good health.
They are quarantining everything that is returned. I had some books checked out since December, so they were in my possession since Covid began, and the system just began accepting returns in June. Our library system is large, but not every branch offers what I enjoy reading (The New Yorker, etc.), so those magazines often look a bit rough, dog eared etc., bc too few copies among too many readers. Once, I was a big subscriber of magazines, but then, the Internet, and I moved to a place with a public library, so no longer needed to subscribe. However, I may return to that era of subscription. Only now I have choices…paper magazine delivered to mailbox or online magazine? Both have their charms, of course.