Library offering limited curbside pickup starting today
By Jensen, Randy on May 21, 2020.
Greg Bobinec
Lethbridge Herald
The Lethbridge Public Library staff are working hard to serve the community through a variety of services to help meet needs, and have added a new curbside pickup option, as restrictions begin to be lifted.
As of today the library will be reopening their book returns and offering a limited curbside pickup.
Curbside pickup will be first made available to customers that have existing holds that were ready for pickup on or before March 16. These customers will be notified of the pickup procedures. Once these existing reservations have been cleared, the curbside pickup will be opened up to the community.
Curbside pickup will be available from Monday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Items will be available at the shipping and receiving entrance at the north end of the parking lot at the Main Branch and in the parking lot of the north side of the library at the Crossings Branch.
If you have items to be returned to the Main Branch, they can be dropped into the book return located at the children’s department entrance. If you have items to be returned at the Crossings Branch, they can be dropped into the return slot located at the south entrance of the Library (Britannia Boulevard West).
Many of the library items have not had contact with the public since March 24. Upon book drops reopening, items being returned are quarantined for a minimum of 72 hours and people will not come into direct contact with any staff members while picking up items. Physical distancing is practised at all times while curbside orders are being prepared, and table used for curbside will be cleaned and disinfected between customer pickups.
The library is advising people using curbside to do so with caution as they cannot guarantee the sanitization of library materials. The COVID-19 virus can survive up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel. As books cannot be effectively cleaned and disinfected, it may be wise to store them for a minimum of 24 hours before use.
Customers are advised to wash hands before and after handling books and other items, avoid touching your face while reading, and avoid sneezing or coughing onto the pages while reading. Customers who are immune compromised or otherwise susceptible to the COVID-19 infection should not take out items from the Library.
The library is also working on ways to make toys and physical literacy kits available at a later date, as well as getting the Bookmobile service back up and running. Due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, these services may need to be suspended without notice.
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