Knowing how much you rely on us, members of the staff worked to continue to serve you as best as we could before we had to stop providing services during this time of physical distancing. How did we help?
We knew lots of you had important papers and documents that you needed faxed or copied, so donning gloves, we met you at your car, took your documents inside the library and faxed or copied them for you, and then brought them back out. And of course, we knew you were going to need books and movies before going into self-imposed isolation.
The staff spent a lot of time coming up with how to serve you safely. Not only were we concerned for our own health, but your health was equally important to us. We used gloves for everything. We washed all incoming materials. With the virus living 72 hours, we brought books and DVDs into the library and neatly piled them in daily groups on the floor. When those materials had been isolated for 72 hours they could be returned to the shelf. We were glad we could serve you in this way.
But today, as I write, you need to find other ways to entertain and educate yourself. Thankfully the weather is somewhat cooperating. So, if you are a gardener, hiker, biker, or outdoors person you can find lots to do. But, if your main form of entertainment is reading and movies this could be a challenging time for you. I always laugh about “reading a book again for the first time.” Try it! You may be surprised what you can glean from a book with a second read-through. Sure, you know the plot, but now you can appreciate the way a phrase is twisted. Something like the Harry Potter books, I could read them again for the 3rd time and still find things I missed the first 2 times. There are little things I missed the first time through because I was so enraptured with the excitement. Those books are really quite cleverly written.
Maybe now it’s time you check into e-media. You know about e-books. But did you know there are audio books that you can listen to through your phone, tablet, or laptop? You can find most of your favorite authors on CLEVNET. Go to the Andover Public Library website or use the link below to get to CLEVNET. https://search.clevnet.org/client/en_US/andv-main
So, at a time like this, let’s keep our minds and, if possible, bodies moving! And remember, we need to be physically distant from one another. Take some time to remain socially present to one another. Make a phone call to family, friends, neighbors. See how everyone is holding up during these challenging times. Before you know it, we’ll see one another and hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity to talk about all the great books we’ve read, re-read or listened to!
In the meantime, a tip of the hat to our great staff and to you our patrons for bearing with us during this time. We look forward to seeing and working with you again in, hopefully, the not too distant future.