BACK IN SERVICE
Oildale’s Rathbun branch library reopens after going dark for a year and a half
For years, Pamela Bishop haunted the bookshelves at the Kern County Library’s Rathbun branch on China Grade Loop in Oildale.
“I enjoyed coming here, sitting down, you know, just getting out of the house,” said Bishop, an avid reader who lives just down the street from the north-of-the-river branch.
Then, nearly a year and a half ago, the branch was unceremoniously closed. It was labeled “temporary,” but water damage and construction delays made worse by the COVID-19 shutdown combined to lengthen Bishop’s exile from her beloved neighborhood library.
On Wednesday, things were looking up.
“I’m the first customer,” Bishop said as she checked out books and chatted with library staffers on the first day of the Rathbun’s return to service.
“It’s great for the local neighborhood to have the library back again,” said Theresa Becker, the new manager of the branch.
Indeed, there was a bit of a celebratory mood evident Wednesday — and for good reason. Not only is the Rathbun not dead, it’s entering a new stage in its life, with attractive new flooring, new fixtures, a redesigned floor plan and more.
It even smells new.
But library spokeswoman Jasmin LoBasso said more is coming.
“The interior has some
additional upgrades on the way,” she said, “including public computers, new tables and chairs, a reading playhouse for children, as well as art for the walls.”
The branch has turned out beautifully, she said.
All communities benefit from a free public library, said Sherry Wade, the library system’s west Kern area regional supervisor.
“We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries from local residents,” she said. Folks have heard the branch is coming back, and they’re curious.
“There are a lot of people here living on fixed incomes,” Wade said. But it’s not just Oildale. People in Delano, Wasco, Taft, the Kern River Valley and elsewhere in Kern benefit from not only the educational offerings the library offers, but the entertainment aspects as well.
“And it’s free,” she said.
But only half of the Kern County Library system’s two dozen brick-and-mortar libraries are open. And the dozen “open” branches are working on severely reduced schedules and due to health restrictions, reduced services.
The Rathbun, for example, is open noon to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. And with COVID-19 still a critical factor, along with funding and staffing, almost all the working branches are on two day or three day per week schedules.
Still, library leadership and staff continue to expand offerings and activities for children and adult patrons that don’t require visits to the library buildings at all.
Book clubs and eBooks. Reading programs. And through its partnership with Hoopla, audiobooks, comics, movies and music are available virtually. All you need is a library card.
And for those who want the physical connection to real libraries and librarians, curbside service and something new called indoor express appointments are available to Rathbun. Express appointments allow library patrons 30 minutes by appointment to browse the shelves, use the copy machine, solicit help from a staff member — or accomplish any number of other things.
“It’s been really tough not having the library open,” Bishop said. But as she bagged her books and headed for the door Wednesday, she seemed elated the Rathbun had returned.
“Ladies,” she said to the smiling staff. “Until we meet again!”