The pandemic of 2020 will be something we all remember not only because of all the people who we lost, but because of the way it changed everything about our world. The staff at SCL were flummoxed at first when Covid-19 hit our community. How can we do our jobs if we can’t put a book in a patron’s hand, find out how they liked that last book we recommended, have storytime with the kids, and what about the play the homeschoolers were going to put on? And oh no! What about the 5K run we’re supposed to have in April? As you know if you are ever on our Facebook page, it all went virtual. Storytimes, trivia nights, book recommendations, even our 5K run. Our digital resources have really caught on with patrons and we’ve added some more to keep up with all the usage. Our programming this summer is going to move online too. We have a new program called Beanstack that will be fun for adults and kids to track their summer reading and earn prizes. And for our patrons who want to checkout our physical materials, we’ve got curbside delivery of holds that allows us to get you your materials without having to get too close to anyone. We also have a few public computers with printing/ scanning if someone needs one desperately. Self-serve with social distancing! If you enjoyed these services, you’ll be happy to know that we think they work so well we want to keep them. When the library is able to open again to the public, we’ll still be observing all the rules the CDC has given us for staying safe. This is not going to end soon. I know it’s hard to comprehend the complete upheaval of the world. Our brains are not wired for this. We want things to go back to normal. I look out my window and think, “it looks normal outside, surely I can go back to…” But the answer is, “No.” Even if you don’t know someone who has gotten sick or died, 100,000 people in the U.S. have died from the coronavirus. And many of them were health care workers or other service workers who were repeatedly exposed to the public. When we were open, we used to see thousands of patrons each week. We all miss that. We want to see you and we will welcome you back to the library with open arms, but there will probably be plexiglass between us. Sincerely, Patty Hector
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