Libraries find ways to connect with community
Courtesy of Melinda Tanner
Susan Strnisha, the children’s services assistant for Chartiers-Houston Community Library, does an online storytime for children.
Courtesy of Melinda Tanner
After Megan Brewer read her childhood copy of “A Mouse in my House,” during an online storytime for Citizens Library, she and her daughter, Violet Brewer, 9, showed everyone their special guest, Butterscotch.
Courtesy of Melinda Tanner
Bentleyville’s Library Director Charlotte Carpenter shows the Feelings Monster to children during an online activity.
Courtesy of Laura Swanson
Sophia Strnisha volunteers to help with online storytime, crafts and other activities for Chartiers-Houston Community Library.
Though closed until further notice, libraries across the county are finding innovative ways to remain connected with their communities by moving some regular programming online.
At Chartiers-Houston Community Library, librarians moved their 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday story time for children to a video stream with children’s services library assistant, Susan Strnisha.
They then post videos about accompanying crafts and activities for families following the story time, according to the library manager Laura Swanson. The link to sign up for the video story time is on the library’s Facebook page.
“We doing that to try to help our usual families if they’re trying to keep some sort of normal schedule,” Swanson said.
The library also started a book club via email for adults. With a limited supply of e-books available, librarians have had to run the club based on topics, rather than have everyone read the same book.
“It’s difficult to do a traditional book club because we can’t just get everyone a copy,” Swanson said. “People can pick a book they’d like to read, under a certain topic, and we have a conversation in that way. We’ve had to get a little creative.”
The CHC library also used to have “fraud bingo” games, in which patrons could learn about internet and phone scams while playing bingo. Swanson said she’s trying to get that set up online through a video conferencing system.
“As librarians we’re already constantly trying to be the best resource we can be for everyone, we’re just having to think a little more creatively about how to do that right now,” Swanson said in an email. “We miss our communities and we really miss seeing them here.”
That’s the hardest part about being closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Diane Ambrose, the director of Citizens Library in Washington. She said Citizens Library typically has people that come into the library and stay for much of the day to use computers or read a book.
“We have a lot of people who use us as a community base,” Ambrose said. “We’re not able to provide that safe haven for people, and that’s probably the most upsetting thing for us. I don’t know what those people are doing right now, but we’re hoping they’re safe.”
Like many others, Citizens Library is also hosting online story times once a week, Ambrose said. They’re also providing online educational and job services like resume writing and employee training programs.
“Certainly that’s something people are looking for right now,” she said.
Melinda Tanner, district services manager for libraries in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, said libraries are using their social media pages to share free resources with communities. Things like preschool or early education material, free online music lessons or free access to classic novel collections, Tanner said.
“That’s who we are and what we do – we make connections with the community,” she said. “We understand how important it is for people to not congregate in public right now. It was a matter of firing up our webcams and getting stuff out there.”
Across the three counties, there’s been a spike in the use of the libraries’ OverDrive app, which provides content of about two-thirds e-books and one-third audio books.
“I’ve been trying to buy a lot more titles to keep that collection fresh,” she said. “I try to keep the holds down to less than 15 per copy.”
One best-selling novel, “Where the Crawdads Sing,” by Delia Owens, has 85 holds on the e-book edition, Tanner said.
“I have 11 copies of that one,” she said. “We’re trying to distribute it out.”
As far as print materials on hold in the physical libraries, they’ll be waiting once libraries are allowed to open again, but they’ll be backed up, Tanner said.
She also asked anyone with donations for a library to wait to drop them off, along with any overdue borrowed books and materials.
“We appreciate the donations, but people are cleaning their houses and bringing donations that are just sitting outside the library,” Tanner said. “And everything’s going to have to be sanitized.”
Tanner said most library workers are disappointed to not be making “one-on-one” connections with community members right now, especially since this is typically the season in which they plan out summer reading programs.
“Even the smallest of libraries, they’ve really stepped it up and are trying as hard as they can to do whatever they can,” Tanner said.