POQUOSON, Va.— Readers are rejoicing for the return of a little bit of normalcy.
Poquoson Public Library kicked off their curbside pickup Monday— eight weeks after closing because of the pandemic.
Monday was the day Maureen Mooney-Flood says she’s been waiting for. She’s finally getting the library books she’s had on hold for six weeks.
“I didn’t know when it was going to reopen, and I got a phone call this morning and it said, ‘You can come pick them up,’ and I was like— it was Christmas in May. I was like, 'Thank you, thank you,'" says Mooney-Flood.
Patrons like Mooney-Flood are overjoyed that their Poquoson library is now open for curbside pickup.
“People are so excited. We’ve got a lot of social media response and then just from people picking up saying, 'Thank you guys so much for doing this,'” says Poquoson Public Library Director Jessica Hartley.
People can call in or go online to place a hold, and they’ll be notified when their items are ready for pickup.
“We have a table that we can place the items on for safe social distancing, or if they choose not to get out of their car, they can pop their trunk and we’ll place them in the trunk.”
They even deliver to Poquoson residents who are at high risk for getting sick.
“We have volunteers each day who will take the items to the person’s address and drop it off on their porch, so it’s still a no-contact service that patrons can receive. You just call us for that when you’re interested or place items on hold and when we call you, you can tell us, ‘I prefer to have the delivery service,’” says Hartley.
Once people are finished with their read, they’ll return their books in the book drop at the library. The librarians sanitize the books, and then they sit in quarantine for three days before they’re out back on the shelf.
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The library’s collection of more than 65,000 items has been disinfected to make pickup possible.
“It took about a month and a half. We went through with Clorox wipes or other cleaners and cleaned absolutely every single item in the collection. We also had a sanitizing fogger come in,” say Hartley.
People like Mooney-Flood say they are thankful for the extra care the library is taking to help return a little bit of normalcy to their lives.
The library is accepting new applications for library cards by phone, or you can fill out a paper application when you come to make your pickup.
