LYNN — Residents are still not allowed to enter the Lynn Public Library, but as of this week, they are now able to check out books through a new curbside pickup option.
Chief Librarian Theresa Hurley said the offering started this week for patrons, who can now schedule their pickup dates and times by phone or email.
The library had been offering some curbside pickup via email for the past several weeks, but the option is now available by telephone, Hurley said, noting that many of their patrons don’t have access to computers.
“It’s working well,” she said. “We still want people to be able to use our services even though they can’t physically come into the building yet.”
The curbside pickup service volume is starting to pick up, Hurley said, explaining that people can call to place holds on specific titles or tell a staff member what genre they are interested in so a bag of books can be put together for them.
Popular books at the library this summer have included James Patterson novels, “Too Much and Never Enough,” the new book by Mary Trump, the president’s niece, and titles from other popular authors such as Stuart Woods, Hurley said.
“We’ve also been adding a lot of our digital books as well in terms of eBooks,” she said. “That has skyrocketed. We’ve made some exceptions to our policies so we can give as many people (as possible) access to our digital content.”
For example, Hurley said people would normally have to come in person to provide a proof of address in order to sign up for a library card. But now, people can sign up for a card online.
The next step will be offering faxing and printing services for people. Hurley said the library also plans to start offering delivery service to anyone who cannot get to the building for whatever reason, which is currently restricted to those who are homebound.
But she said there is still no timeline for when the library would reopen to the public.
A lot of it depends on figuring out how to rearrange the space, in terms of moving and removing furniture. Once that is done, the next phase would be allowing people to come inside the library to browse for a certain period of time and check out books, DVDs, or other items.
But library patrons will not be allowed to “sit around all day,” during that phase, which Hurley hopes will begin sometime in September. After that, the library’s reference section will slowly reopen for public computer use, she said.
“It’s a little surreal,” said Hurley. “I never thought in my career I’d have to come up with a plan to open during a pandemic. I miss the people. I’ve never come to the library when we don’t have the public in here so that’s an odd thing to get used to.”
Curbside pickup is available at the Lynn Public Library Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit the library website for more information.
