LIBRARIES CREATING NEW WAYS TO READ

Virtual book clubs and digital children’s books fill void during virus shutdown

Last week’s wave of closures due to coronavirus concerns has already caused events to be bumped from the calendars of local libraries and brought about new ways to keep kids entertained while the doors are closed.

“We’re just trying to come up with creative ways to continue to serve the public, as best we can, in a situation that we have very little control over,” said North Wales Area Library Director Jayne Blackledge.

Blackledge said staff have come up with two new tactics to keep in touch with the public, including a driveup dropoff box at the library entrance and online video streams so staff can continue reading to kids.

“We’re going to be posting two books each day on Facebook, that I’ll be reading to children. We’re just trying to keep the kids invested in reading,” Blackledge said.

Those streams can be found on the library’s Facebook page and so far have run from two to ten minutes long, and all are archived for future viewing if the books featured are unavailable now. How to get

those books is the second library innovation: a new drive-up book dropoff box and pickups at the library’s front entrance.

“Our vestibule area was designed so, in an emergency, we could have the vestibule open but the rest of the library closed. And we put a book return there,” Blackledge said.

“People that had books on hold, or have a particular need to get a book right away, we’ve been able to check it off, put it in an envelope, and they can pick it up: kind of like a drive-through order, only they’re picking up a book,” she said.

Library staff are still inside fielding calls and emails, so members can send in a request for a book, or for a pre-selected bag of books from the library’s children’s collection, and

pick them up at the vestibule while keeping a safe distance.Those requesting items be held are asked to limit their holds to a maximum of three items or ten children’s books at a time, and staff will use gloves and disinfectant wipes on all returned materials, and ask members to wipe down covers before returning anything.

A series of planned events related to the 2020 census have been called off, Blackledge said, as has the library’s planned “Taste of Montgomery County” fundraiser, originally scheduled for March and now rescheduled for July 30; tickets already purchased will be good for the July date, and an online auction should go live April 1.

Several book club groups that currently meet at the library are looking into ways to start doing so online instead, Blackledge added, and times and links will be posted as they’re finalized. Staff are also sharing

resources like online artistic courses, and online virtual tours of places like zoos that kids can explore virtually without leaving the house.

“These are the kinds of things that are teaching children to explore the world around them,” she said. “Although our doors are closed, we’re trying to reach out with what libraries always do.”

For the Lansdale Public Library, the biggest loss to the coronavirus closures so far has been the International Spring Festival, which would have been held for the 29th time at North Penn High School in April. Each year the festival brings together hundreds of food, music, dance, and cultural displays from representatives of over 100 different countries, and draws crowds of thousands, an event library director Tom Meyer said its organizing committee had to call off due to concerns over any large gatherings.

Lansdale’s library staff are still fielding calls and emails to answer questions, and Meyer said most so far have been from members renewing books and asking about online services.

“We have many resources in our e-library that are available 24/7 through our website with a library card,” he said.

Those online resources include over 3,000 digital magazines and 35,000 streaming audio books via the library’s RBdigital platform, ebooks from EBSCO and Overdrive catalogs, streaming video from Kanopy, and Creativebug crafting video courses, according to Meyer. All can be found under the “Online resources” header on the library’s website, and staff are looking into ways to issue and renew library cards by email.

For more information on the North Wales Area Library visit www.NorthWalesLibrary.org, search for “North Wales Area Library” on Facebook or follow @NWAreaLibrary on Twitter.

For more information on the Lansdale Public Library visit www.lansdalelibrary.org, search for “Lansdale Library” on Facebook or follow @LansdaleLibrary on Twitter.

SUBMITTED PHOTO — COURTESY OF NORTH WALES AREA LIBRARY North Wales Area Library director Jayne Blackledge holds the children’s book “Happy Pig Day” before reading it for a Facebook Live stream meant to keep local kids engaged in reading while the library is closed.

SUBMITTED PHOTO — COURTESY OF NORTH WALES AREA LIBRARY North Wales Area Library director Jayne Blackledge stands next to a drive-up book return box outside the entrance to the library, meant to allow library members to drop off books while the library is closed due to coronavirus concerns.