Public libraries on slow road to reopening

Book lovers can breathe a sigh of relief.

After being shuttered early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, New Brunswick libraries are finally starting to reopen.

So far, 14 of the province's 63 public libraries have reopened.

Ella Nason, director of client services and operations for the New Brunswick Public Library Service, said there is a set ofsteps to reopening laid out by the province and each library is moving at its own pace.

The now common hand sanitizer stations and Plexiglas will be installed at libraries.

"They have to have planned for how space is going to be managed in the library," said Nason.

"[They] need to have screening criteria at the door, they have to determine how many people can be in the space at a time, they have to have a greeter in place at the door."

Books that are returned will now be set aside for 72 hours to limit the chance COVID-19 can be spread by them,and some services will not be available for patrons.

"That means the meeting rooms, computer workstations and library programs are not available at this time," said Nason.

Increased online presence

Nason said the libraries are focusing mostly on getting books in the hands of New Brunswickers andthe easiest way to do so is to place a hold on books for a family,then have one person come to the library to pick them up.

She also said libraries have seen a dramatic increase in their online traffic during the state of emergency.

"During the month of April,we issued more than 255 per cent more library cards than we would during a typical month in the last threeyears," said Nason.

"We had a 400 per cent increase in users of eBooks and audiobooks online."

Reopening dates for public libraries can be found through each library's individual social media channel.