January 2020 was the first time I heard the words “essential workers.” In early meetings with Emergency Services, I was informed that if we needed to go into a county wide shut down, governmental services that were not considered essential would be closed. By the end of February we were pretty sure that the shutdown was imminent and the word essential became more defined. We don’t often think about the daily business of a county or town, we know that it usually runs smoothly – and when it doesn’t, residents have the ability to help bring about progressive change. But what about during a pandemic! Where was the playbook?
One of the most noticeable closures was the public library. We have two systems in Orange County. Both closed to the public mid-March 2020 when the county wide shutdown occurred. Reading remains the most popular pastime not only in Orange County, NC, but across America. According to social media, many of us began new hobbies; cooking, baking, sourdough mother starters, kombucha explosions, sauerkraut fermentation, carpentry, gardening, playing the banjo, playing the ukulele, painting, arts and crafts, yoga, crocheting, quilting and knitting. Suddenly we all had time on our hands and to stay sane we needed to fill that time with well, anything! I stressed knitted about 60 cotton washcloths (all given away as pandemic gifts), and began to catch up with the stack of books on my shelf. My book club remained active, meeting on Zoom hitting our 100th book together as a group this June. (You can check out our reading list here!)
I have always loved visiting the public library. As a kid, I spent a lot of time in the library fascinated by the card catalogue and the smell of books. It’s a bit different today as you can find your book on the library web page, put it on hold, and pick it up when it becomes available. But that all shut down mid-March. The Orange County library told residents that it will close to the public on March 16, 2020. They gave folks two days to load up on books, not really knowing when they will open again. The place was crazy busy, according to the library communications manager, but they fulfilled the demand and shut down. Chapel Hill library closed March 13, 2020 with the same uncertainty of reopening.
When we confirmed that the COVID virus was transmitted through droplets in the air, tiny particles called aerosols, and not on a surface, it felt safe to begin book circulation again. The libraries had to think outside the box and find a creative way for avid readers like me, to get our books. Chapel Hill Library experimented with a curbside pickup in May, but the high demand led to idling cars and traffic backups onto Franklin Street with no protective cover for staff in the heat. They shifted to a Park & Pickup in July 2020 and continued that service through May 2021. Orange County Library began curbside pickup in July 2020 at their 3 locations. I live in Carrboro and it was easy to have a book brought from the main library in Hillsborough to the Cybrary. Because the Cybrary is more like an urban library, most folks walked to pick up their books. A quick call to say you have arrived and your book was delivered to a table outside. The McDougle branch library has been closed permanently with anticipation for the Southern Branch Library’s groundbreaking. For those that have been following, the Southern Branch Library is long overdue with the Friends of the Library working on this request for over 15 years.
So are the libraries open to the public now? Not quite yet – but July looks promising! Chapel Hill Library switched to indoor pickup. Park in the lot and enter the front of the library to pick up your books. The library director is hoping to open the lower level public computing area with limited capacity in the next couple of weeks, followed by browsing of stacks, also limited capacity with the goal to fully reopen soon. Orange County will increase access on July 6th with appointment curbside pick from 10a-1p and browsing and computer use, 2-6p with limited capacity. Both systems are in the process of creating a safe environment before increasing capacity.
There are also ”Little Free Libraries,” in Orange County. Brian Haney, Orange County resident, has been collecting books for years filling the libraries in Orange and Caswell Counties. He tells me there are 34 registered and chartered libraries in our area with many more that are not registered. You can find some of them here littlefreelibrary.org. Todd Bol built the first Little Free Library in 2009. It resembled a one-room schoolhouse and was a tribute to his mother, a book lover and teacher. These libraries function on an honor system. You can take a book or share a book. So… what are you reading this summer?
Library Trivia!
What year did the first free library open in America – 1790
Country with the most libraries? China
City in the world with the most bookstores? Hong Kong
What is the world’s largest library? The Library of Congress, with over 168 million items.
What book was borrowed the most in 2020? Brit Bennett’s “The Vanishing Half.”
What book is most often stolen from public libraries? “The Guinness Book of Records”
How many libraries are there in America? 16,500 — but when you add academic and government libraries, the number is closer to 116,900!
Penny and her family moved to Chapel Hill in 1998. She soon joined the Town of Chapel Hill’s Telecommunications and Technology advisory board and was appointed by the town to the OWASA board of directors where she served 6 years and held the Vice Chair position. In 2009 she ran and was elected to the town council in Chapel Hill, and in 2012 ran and was elected to the BOCC where she served 8 years, the last two as chair of the board. Penny owns and operates a personal chef and catering company and has been published in Cary Magazine, Gourmet Magazine, INDY Week, Southern Neighbor and News14. She lives in Carrboro with her mom Jersey Jacky. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram
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Great content! Keep up the good work!