3 libraries close due to short staffing

Alamitos, Brewitt and Dana branches will allow visitors to pick up books and materials to-go

Three Long Beach Public Library branches will shift to a “togo” model of service through the end of the year, a move intended to combat a worker shortage.

The Alamitos, Brewitt, and Dana neighborhood libraries will close to the public — computer areas, reading rooms and restrooms included — on Aug. 2, the city announced this week. Residents will still be able pick up books and audiovisual materials from those locations. The partial closures, officials said, are meant to prevent additional library shutdowns across the city. Workers from the Alamitos, Brewitt and Dana libraries will be deployed to other locations in order to keep them fully staffed and open to the public.

“The library system has experienced periodic closures due to low staffing,” Library Director Cathy De Leon said Wednesday in a press release. “This temporary, modified staffing model will stabilize our staffing resources to ensure we continue providing literary and educational resources and programming for our community.”

The coronavirus pandemic, along with several long-term job vacancies across the public library system — including at the supervisory level — have created a series of staffing challenges over the past few years, according to a Wednesday memo from City Manager Tom Modica to the City Council.

“These vacancies combined with employees needing to periodically isolate and quarantine have negatively impacted library operations,” Modica wrote. “Shifting three locations to To-Go service temporarily alleviates some of the burden.”

The city anticipates resuming regular library operations at all branch locations early next year, once staffing vacancies have been filled, Modica said.

The three branches that will temporarily move to a “to-go” model, Modica said, have other libraries in their respective City

Council districts, which is why they were tapped for partial closure. The selected library closures will also have the least impact on the residents who rely most on library facilities and programming, Modica wrote in his memo.

The Alamitos, Brewitt and Dana branches will still provide books, DVDs, Chromebooks and other materials via pickup. Residents can place items on hold online or by phone. New library cards can also be requested and picked up at those locations.

And anyone participating in the library system's Summer Reading Program can still pick up earned rewards at the to-go locations.