Here we go
We went camping last week. Don’t freak out, we stayed to ourselves and packed our own food. Sunday at 3:48am Lauren and I woke up and spent a little time on our phones. Next thing I know, she says, “We are trending.” What? We are trending, what does that mean? Are people upset that we are camping? Tell them, we packed our own food and are staying away from other people. Then I got it, it was the lake. This is old news, but it was a pretty big event and I can relate it to the library.
First thing, I get it. I get needing to get away and trying to strive for normal. These last few weeks have been pretty dark and isolation is never a good thing for anyone dealing with mental illness or trauma. So, I understand, duh, I went camping. That being said, I am not sure we need to just jump right in. I like to dip my toes in the water before I jump in. We have opened the library slowly for the same reason, just watching and waiting; testing the waters.
The lake will be a testing ground. I hope we pass. I want to go back to normal. I am tired of figuring my job out all over again. I also hate seeing a kid cry because he cannot come into the library.
We are at the end of our lobby opening and will open the library on June 1st. I would ask patrons to reserve the first hour of opening for our seniors and patrons with health conditions. We will continue to offer curbside service. I will be restricting entry to 10 patrons at a time and will limit their library time to 30 minutes. This will be strictly enforced. We ask you to practice social distancing; we will be wearing masks and would appreciate at it if you did as well. The community room will not be available for use and library programming will all be virtual with videos and Zoom meetings. We will still quarantine materials for 4 days. All materials need to be returned in the outside drop box. Those of you that check out movies, audios and music need to be aware of the quarantine time. These items will still hold a checkout limit of 10 and items stay on your account 4 days after they are returned. Pace yourself on check out so that you will be prepared.
Besides opening the lobby gate we are at the beginning of Summer Reading. On Friday, June 5th at 10:00am, Laura McHugh will be leading our writing workshop on Zoom. Laura McHugh is the award-winning, internationally-bestselling author of novels The Weight of Blood, Arrowood, and The Wolf Wants In. The Weight of Blood won the International Thriller Writers Award and the Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel and the Missouri Author Award for Fiction, and was named a Best Book of the Year by BookPage, the Kansas City Star, and the Sunday Times in the UK. Arrowood was a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel. McHugh’s work has also been nominated for an ALA Alex Award, a Barry Award, a GoodReads Choice Award, and a Pushcart Prize. McHugh lives in Columbia, Missouri with her husband and daughters.
We have all of her books at the library, check them out and be sure to join our Zoom meeting with her. I am so excited about this!! I am sad it is virtual, that was not the original plan. When COVID came to town she told me she would do whatever we wanted her too, well, we are dipping our foot in the water.
Here we go. No large gatherings at the library, but another step back to normal.
Upcoming Events: Onsite delivery of SRP activities on Thursday, Gravois Access 4-4:30, Stover 5:00-5:30. Laura McHugh led writing workshop on Zoom, Friday at 10:00am. Story Walk starts on June 8th at the Stover and Versailles City Park. Story Time and teen fan fiction writing prompt, Wednesday at 10:00am.