Dear fellow Hanoverians:
John Curtis Free Library Re-opening Plan – this just in!
“To address the main concern on the Hanover Connect Facebook page — why
aren’t we open? That’s easy; we have only received half of the plexiglass
shields that we need to open; the rest should be arriving shortly.
Production and installation of these is outside of our control. I promise,
once they are here, we WILL be open for appointments.
As a follow-up to the above – Why not just open? Why appointments? We
have two populations that use the Library the most – families with young
children and seniors. These are the most vulnerable of our citizens, and
we want to be sure that we’ve thought through every angle and protocol
that we can to ensure their safety – and quite frankly, that of our
staff, as well.
Within a few weeks of being open for appointments, we will be open for
small groups. Taking our reopening seriously at the outset can prevent us
having to close our doors again.
There were a few comments about other libraries being open, why not us?
Only 30% of OCLN libraries are currently open — and read that with a grain
of salt, please – most have very limited hours and severely limited numbers
of patrons in the building, as well as limited access to browsing. The
open libraries are Abington, Braintree, Brockton, Holbrook, Marshfield,
Quincy, Sharon, Walpole, and Weymouth — and I’m sure there will be more in
the coming weeks. This is an update from the Facebook post. For
reference, there are 30 Libraries in our network. Norwell was mentioned as
being open by name; this is false — they are only offering curbside at
this time. Other nearby libraries (such as Hanson) are in the SAILS
network; I do not have data on their open status.
Materials quarantine was mentioned – that is correct; we quarantine our
returned items for 7 days, in accordance with the REALM study performed by
the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Should you be interested in
the details, the results can be found here:
http://atotw.com/maillist/lt.php?tid=iFB6jfLdhwOK4h4mlaIOkHMW5ZvOM+UJhIO+VE/akiBoqLt7nDMoRqoN783ZLADJ
Due to quarantine protocol, we will not be charging fines on materials;
please do not worry that items are late.
Another patron mentioned that their card had lapsed; please call us! We
can reinstate you with no problem. All of our electronic databases and
services are available to you with your card; many have had their
collections and content increased due to the pandemic.
For the record, we will continue to offer curbside pickup at least through
the calendar year – even during the time that we are open to small groups
– to anyone that prefers to receive materials that way. In other words,
once we’re open, you may browse for materials, but if you prefer curbside,
it will still be available. We also offer HOME DELIVERY and PICKUP of
Library materials; don’t hesitate to call and ask.
I know that this was long; I hope it answered some questions. Please –
don’t hesitate to ask!
Virginia K. Johnson
My pronouns are she/her/hers
Library Director
John Curtis Free Library
781-826-2972
vjohnson@ocln.org ”
For “Around Town on the Web”,
Cathy H-B
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