Library reopens

County branches now open to the public

After being shuttered for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, County library branches are once again open to the public, albeit with limited hours at present. Barbara Sweet, CEO of Prince Edward County Public Library said she breathed a sigh of relief when the library branches were finally allowed to reopen. “It was pretty sad for a time when we couldn’t lend books at all,” she said. “Curbside [pickup] helped; people were so happy when we were able to provide the books they wanted outside the branch, but a lot of people still wanted to come in. We’ve been thinking it through and reading the literature about what other libraries had done, and we had Public Health do a walk-through with us, so we knew we had made adequate preparation. We were very comfortable and extremely relieved to be able to open and welcome people back in. After all, it’s their material, it’s their library, and it just feels wrong somehow to withhold it, even though we know the reasons.”

(L-R): Patron Mary Jane McDowell checks out a book from librarian Gisa Iannaci at the Ameliasburgh branch.

At the beginning of the shutdown, Sweet and the library staff immediately began planning for online programming. They were also in constant communication with Public Health, asking things like whether books could be mailed out to patrons, or what precautions should be taken with curbside pickup. “Everybody was learning and not sure, until there’s research been done,” said Sweet. “We communicated as best we could through social media and the newspapers. When curbside happened, we could only accept returns if we quarantined the books. We’re still doing a lot of curbside; it’s very convenient for people— they can pick up the bag of books as they go to the grocery store kind of thing. The combination of inhouse and curbside is working very well.” The initial online offering was a much needed lifeline for many people, particularly the children’s programming by Joanna Howard, and the technology support videos by Michele Gardner. “Joanna, our children’s librarian, did a wonderful job. She’s just so soft and friendly and I think it was the right touch at the right time. We heard from so many mums that it was just their connection to the world. You know, when everybody was kind of reeling, they felt that it offered some normalcy. And other staff jumped in, out of their comfort zone, and did online programming. Michele did the tech workshops, worked very hard at putting them together and answering questions. Certainly our IT staff, through the whole thing, were incredibly busy. People were relying on technology so heavily, and they could call the library and we would do our best to help them. It was challenging, but we were absolutely determined we were going to continue to deliver services, and the staff were ‘shoulder to the wheel’.”

Sweet said it feels as if the past four months have flown by. “Who would have thought we’d be in this situation? It presented a challenge, and I feel the library really rose to it, and I’m so proud of all the staff,” she said. For now, the library branches are offering limited hours, and only allowing in a few people at a time, although that has not yet posed a difficulty. “We’re offering limited hours for a number of reasons—for staff safety and our patron safety. And by keeping it very safe, should anything happen in the next month or so, take a downturn, then we will be able to continue to offer the service. So many people rely heavily on it. People will often say to me, ‘It’s the only thing I can do anymore,’ so it’s very important for us to be there for those people.” One of the challenges the library is dealing with is the disruption to the supply chain for print books. Initially, this meant going to e-books, and that has had a significant impact of the library’s budget. “We can buy a print book for $25, $35, and sometimes e-books are $90, $100, and there’s a limited loan on them. You can lend them out 30 times and then they disappear. We’ve been transitioning back to print, and the books are starting to flow again. It’s been a very interesting period of time, and we’ve tried to view it very positively. We’re re-thinking a lot of the things that we do and we are finding new ways to do them.”

Michele Gardner is one of the librarians who stepped out of her comfort zone and helped the library steer its way through the pandemic. She helped to create slide shows and online videos on a variety of topics while the library buildings were shut down.

“We tried to arrange the topics to be relevant to what’s happening, for instance group chats or video chats, things that would keep you in contact with your family in the heavy days of quarantine. And in addition, how to use our online resources when you couldn’t get books at all from the library. We helped people to use our e-book resources, including Overdrive, Hoopla, Kanopy, Mango Language and Libby. They were very popular and we had a lot of questions and did a lot of one-on-one to help people use their devices more comfortably,” she said. Michele said that patrons seem to be very comfortable returning to the library. “Everybody has been very respectful, and everybody has been wearing their masks and sanitizing their hands.” To ensure safety, all returned books are quarantined for at least 24 hours before being returned to the shelves. “We sanitize everything—washrooms, high touch areas, as a constant thing. And of course, washing our hands and sanitizing, possibly every 15 minutes or so.” Michele said there was one special thing that patrons of the Wellington branch were happy to see returned. “We recently put back the greeting cards up on display, which has always been popular at this branch, and a couple of people have come in and been thrilled to see that the greeting cards are back out.”

Patrons have been quick to return to the library upon reopening, although many still take advantage of the prearranged book pick-up. Mary Jane McDowell is a regular visitor to the Ameliasburgh branch. She enjoys reading crime fiction, particularly the British genre, and had been taking advantage of the curbside pick-up while the libraries were closed. She also used the online service, taking an introductory Spanish class. She is happy to have the library open again, giving her a chance to browse through the bookshelves. “The library is a great place to go. The staff have been really helpful,” she said. “ If they don’t have a book here, they can get it from any of the other branches, or from a different library, so it’s a really good system, and it’s free.”

For more information about branch locations and opening times, please visit peclibrary.org.