Vermilion Library reopening Tuesday

The Vermilion Public Library (VPL) is reopening and following their new guidelines on July 7.

Library Manager, Stuart Pauls, said the VPL has adjusted, but is turning the page on the near shutdown and is looking forward to being able to offer most of their regular services.

He said that previously, the VPL had been seeing 10 people per day through their curbside pick up program, but that the interactions lacked communication with a door between the staff and customers.

“People need to adapt, and I think that the people of Vermilion need to be commended for the amount of patience and understanding they have given the library,” said Pauls.

“We are very thankful for our dedicated readers and participants who have used us throughout the past few months via curbside pick up and e-services.”

Library Changes

A major change that people will notice is the amount of displays and furniture that have been removed to allow for the best flow possible. For example, there will only be two computers available instead of six.

Customers will be given one hour computer limits followed by a sanitizing period to make sure they are safe for the next person.

As per government regulations, they will be also be quarantining borrowed materials, and there will only be 15 people allowed in the library at a time.

According to Pauls, they have had to implement a new policy to make the numbers fair for other visitors.

For every child under 12, they will have to have an adult supervisor, meaning that a family of 12 won’t be able to visit all at once if the children are all under 12.

All visitors will get an explanation when they enter saying that their visits should be brief in order to pick up their material and go.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years to make it a really welcoming space and its tough to dial all of that back,” said Pauls.

The only services that the library will not be able to offer currently will be their in person programs or use of their meeting room.

Books Galore

Pauls said that throughout the past few months that library staff have often been counted on to be the arbiters of taste for people when selecting books to read.

Although he appreciates their helpfulness, he figures that sometimes those choices are best made by the readers themselves.

Community members will be able to enter the VPL and browse for themselves Mondays from 12:00–5:00pm.; Tuesdays-Thursdays from 10:00am–6:00pm and Fridays from 10:00am–5:00pm.

“We never stopped ordering so there are four months of new material that not very many people have seen. We definitely have the material waiting for people when they come,” said Pauls.