Tomorrow’s the day! The Dauphin Public Library will start to allow limited public browsing.
Parkland Regional Library Director Alison Moss looks forward to it.
“It feels great. It’s been a long and unprecedented journey to get here, so I think we’re all a little nervous, but I think the whole world’s probably a little nervous and we’re just doing our best to figure out how to do this at this point in history.”
Like other businesses, the library has restrictions in place to keep the visitors safe. A maximum of 10 people are allowed in at a time, those entering must sanitize their hands and confirm that they have no Covid-19 symptoms, a 30-minute stay will apply to all patrons, and everyone must practice physical distancing.
Following the successful first phase that featured the curbside pick-up, this second phase focuses on quick trips into the library for books.
“Coming soon, we will be reopening computers, but we’re just letting ourselves get our feet under ourselves for this point. I’m hoping that this summer, we know we have some summer reading clubs for the kids that will be online, TD Summer Reading Club, and then we’ll probably be doing some outdoor reading time. We’re kinda learning as we go, so I think one of the biggest things that is on pause is our Third Thursday Music Nights. I can’t wait til we can bring everybody back and have a big crowd and join together to listen to music.”
Even though you can now enter the library, Moss says the curbside pick-up will continue.
“There could be folks out there in our community that aren’t ready to come back in and browse the shelves. So, we’ll continue offering curbside pick-up.”
Moss adds that for the next little while library hours will be restricted, Monday to Thursday from 12-7, Friday from 12-5:30, and Saturday from 12-4. In the mornings, staff will be at the library and you can call (204) 638-6410 to order books for pick-up.
Around the Parkland some libraries have already opened, while others are opening later this week or next week. If you'd like to contact your local library to find out if they're open, the Parkland Regional Library website has all the contact information.
