The Acadia Parish Library has announced that it will enter the second phase of its reopening on Monday, June 8, which will reopen the various branches to the public.
All branches had been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During that time the library began offering a wide variety of digital programming to fill the void, including virtual story hours, virtual arts and crafts hours and digital slime labs, followed by the addition of virtual bedtime stories in April.
It also stopped charging overdue fines.
On May 18, the library’s various branches began the first phase of reopening. Although patrons were not allowed in the buildings, the branches began offering curbside service for its borrowers, with all books being sanitized and placed in new plastic bags. They also began accepting returns of borrowed books.
By the end of that week, the branches began offering free curbside fax and copy services for up to 10 pages per patron.
According to Acadia Parish Library Director Ted Landry, he was surprised by how brisk the curbside service was, and library staff members are excited to be entering phase two of its reopening.
Guidelines include the following:
• Face masks are strongly encouraged for all patrons;
• Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult;
• Meeting rooms will be unavailable until further notice;
• Fines will not be charged;
• There is no charge for copies or prints and patrons may copy/print up to 10 pages a day;
• Donated books will not be accepted at this time; and
• Curbside services will still be available for patrons.
Patrons will also be asked to observe standard social distancing guidelines.
The computers will be available for use and will be socially distanced. A patron will only be allowed one one-hour session, and keyboards will be sanitized between uses.
Library staff will be taking all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by sanitizing all books when they return to the library, wearing face masks and practicing appropriate hand washing techniques throughout the day.
Additionally, according to Landry, much of the online programming is going to continue in place due to its popularity.
All branches will be open for the same hours they were previously open.
The Crowley branch will be open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
For more information, call the library at 788-1880.