Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Staff at Jasper Municipal Library have been busy arranging, scheduling and cleaning in anticipation of the reopening of the library on September 2.
They are also keeping up with inter-library loans, a system that spans across the province.
"They were phased in over the last two weeks of July in the Yellowhead Regional Library System," said Angie Thom, director of library services.
With interlibrary loans, Thom explained, "you put in the requests, the system puts in the [order and when it arrives for pick up, the system will notify you."
The notifications are in the form of automated messages via email, phone call and text. Email is the most common form, Thom said.
Folks have welcomed the service.
"There's [been] a weekly van delivery since we re-started - there's double the amount of books being delivered,” said Thom. “People are happy it's back."
That service and the upcoming opening are part of a gradual resumption of what was available at the library pre-COVID, beginning with the pick-up program that started on July 8.
Adherence to COVID-19 protocol is making the return to valued programs and services possible.
"Everybody's been very patient," Thom said. "It's been going well."
All books go into an isolation zone, a shelving unit in the library, for five days when they are returned.
Clad in personal protective equipment, library staff - including Kavell Munro, children's programmer, and Janeen Keelan, bibliographic service clerk - put the items away.
"We're talking about hundreds of items - DVDs, audio books [included]. Everything is treated exactly the same," Thom said.
The containers the items are delivered in are labelled with the date they were shipped, which allows staff to know how long to keep all items in isolation.
“To get ready for the reopening, changes will be made throughout the building," Thom said. There will be resized spaces, rearranged furniture, and new directional arrows placed in appropriate spots.
The library will be open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. Cleaning will be done regularly.
Following COVID-19 protocol will be a diligent exercise. Along with hand sanitizing and wearing masks, there will be time limits to how long each visitor can be in the library at a time. Thom said the limit will be about an hour and public computer use will be limited. There will only be two computers available and they will need to be booked.
