Still Be Calm and Be Safe
I think this is a perfect time to quote the classic film, Anchorman.
Ron Burgundy: Boy, that escalated
quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
Champ Kind: It jumped up a notch.
Ron Burgundy: It did, didn’t it?
The world has changed a lot since the last bookworm I wrote. I mentioned being calm, and I still think that is the case, but let’s add, stay at home and share the toilet paper, to the wash your hands recommendation.
At last week’s board meeting we discussed the current health crisis. We decided that we needed to take no drastic steps, we would let the Health Center make that call. That call was made on Tuesday, March 17th, the last day we were open. As the schools closed, President Trump suggested group size limitations to 10 or less and the Missouri and American Library Associations recommended that public libraries closed, I contacted my Board and the Health Center.
Our fearless leader (Board President), Brenda Steffens, met with me before we made things official. We discussed how shutting down would affect our community. For social distancing, closing down is the answer, this is good for our communities wellbeing. To cut our community off from resources, not so great. So we discussed some ways to handle the “new” library during our time of closure.
All items, currently checked out have been renewed, unless you have had them out for 5 years, because that probably isn’t an issue related to Covid-19. 1 person will be on staff during regular hours to answer the phones and to work on other library tasks. Yep, my inventory might be getting done faster. Kate and I did some how-to videos to promote all our digital resources, OverDrive, Hoopla, TumbleBooks, World Book Online and Pronunciator. We also did a video to introduce our “curbside” service.
All our resources can be accessed through our card catalog, morgancounty.biblionix.com. Login with your library card, your password is the number you gave us when you applied for your library card. OverDrive and Hoopla will take a few more steps. OverDrive will require you to search for a library, Missouri Libraries 2go then Morgan County Library. Hoopla will require you to create an account with your email and a password that you create. OverDrive, Hoopla and TumbleBooks all have apps you can download, Hoopla can even be added to your TV!
Weather permitting, we will have a box of free items on our “porch” during regular hours, please share, we will have new boxes each day. We are allowing checkout of 5 books or audiobooks per card, per day through “curbside” service. You can request items through our card catalog or just call us and we can shop for you.
Brittany will be sharing story time activities on our Facebook page and I have some plans for some craft videos and book discussions. So I end this week with similar words as the week before, stay safe and healthy.
Upcoming Events: All programming is cancelled for now, please follow our Facebook page for some virtual activities.