I am aware of what he said
On June 16th, the state moved to Phase 2 of Parson’s “Show Me Strong Recovery Plan,” which essentially lifts all restrictions. Hmmm, we are not doing that.
At our board meeting on June 11th the trustees decided that we would continue with our phases of reopening instead of the governor’s plan. We are open. Ten patrons at a time for 30 minutes each, library material returns are quarantined for 4 days, and no onsite programming or community room use, but, yes, we are open.
I am stressing that open thing, because on this Monday we printed 84 postcards for overdue materials. When we were closed we moved all items to a due date of June 1st. I totally understand if you are still hunkering down, but please call us or come drop your items in the drop box. The box is open 24/7/365.
We have continued our programming virtually during this time and will continue until August 1st. We so much appreciate those of you who are participating, we understand that is not the same, but this will not be forever.
Brittany and Kelly are working hard to make this the best Summer Reading Program they can in light of the limitations COVID has placed on everything. If you haven’t been checking out the girl’s videos you are missing out, this “almost” 50-year-old even gets a kick out of them. They are giving away 10 books to 10 different kids each week who participate with the story times shared on Facebook (Brenda Steffens has donated boxes of books so that this can be done, she is pretty great). Patrons that finish their incentive sheet get a prize and a ticket into our grand prize drawings. Those who finish their reading record also receive a prize and a ticket into our grand prize drawings. Donations from our community has made it possible for the kiddos to receive a cool treat every week and ultimately a prize for every SRP completion beyond the usual grand prizes.
We have done a book club on Zoom for the adults and our craft kit give away was a huge success this month. We have been doing writing prompts for teens and adults, not sure if people are participating but I enjoy seeing my big eyes on camera (no filter, just reading glass magnification).
I went to my friend’s funeral this week. It was honestly the best funeral I have ever attended. I felt her smiling at all of us all day long and it just couldn’t have been more perfect. A guy that works here at the library is also a pastor, I actually got to see him in his full uniform, it was pretty cool, but his sermon was superior to his neat-o robes. The title of the sermon was “We’re not going to do that, Deb.” She asked for 4 things at her funeral and he gave her one, the other 3 requests were met with, you guessed it, “We’re not going to do that, Deb.” He joked that he might have sounded like a jerk, but he wasn’t and it made for a wonderful tribute to a woman that brought us so much joy.
You might wonder what this has to do with the rest of my bookworm, you know better than that, I always find a way, that is why I take up so much column space, sorry, Bryan. Pastor Rottmann told Deb that we weren’t going to do that, but at the graveside, she rebelled (as Pastor knew she would) and one of her no’s got to be a yes. It was a lovely ending that made us all laugh and cry, if you didn’t feel her presence in that moment you have no soul.
So, yep, I am aware of what he (the governor) said, but we aren’t going to do that, Mike. We have a plan and I love this library so much that at some point we will say yes to what had previously been a no and all will be right with the world again.
Upcoming Events: Onsite delivery of SRP activities on Thursday, Gravois Access 4-4:30, Stover 5:00-5:30. 6/25 at 3pm Teen Zoom Book Discussion. 6/26 Adult Writing Prompt at 10am. 6/29 at 6pm Family Bingo on Zoom. Story Walk continues at the Stover and Versailles City Park. Story Time and teen fan fiction writing prompt, Wednesday at 10:00am.