MULGRAVE: The branch of the Eastern counties regional library (ECRL) here will not re-open this year.
Laura Emery, CEO of the ECRL, said their priority is the safety and well-being of its staff and communities, so due to the “uncertainty” around the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mulgrave branch of the ECRL made the “difficult decision” to remain closed for its 2020 season.
“The Mulgrave branch was originally planned to be open only during the summer months in 2020; mid-June to mid-September, when families visit Mulgrave relatives and children are out of school,” Emery told The Reporter.
The library space that the ECRL has rented to the Town of Mulgrave is inside the building that also houses the ECRL’s headquarters. This HQ serves as the hub of regional library operations.
“… The staff at headquarters do critical work, purchasing and cataloguing books as well as coordinating and shipping books to the public and to our branches,” Emery explained. “Closing our headquarters facility – where the Mulgrave branch is located – to the public, will help to protect the well-being of these essential staff so they can maintain core operations. Since our libraries serve vulnerable populations such as seniors, it is our top priority to make sure that our return to service is done in a manner that protects their well-being. We are busy researching, working with other regional libraries and public health to determine how that can happen when restrictions are lifted.”
Emery said the decision had to be made last week.
“We had to make this decision now because work would have needed to begin to prepare the branch to re-open,” the CEO noted. “Our staff are primarily working from home for their safety due to the state of emergency conditions and can’t complete this work. Since we can’t guarantee when the branch would reopen, we also can’t ask our partner the Town of Mulgrave to risk incurring rental costs that ECRL would need to pay staffing for the branch. They are in their budgeting process as are we and so this decision needed to be made to plan for the coming budget year.”
Currently all ECRL locations are closed and borrow by mail services are suspended until further notice.
To find ways to provide safe services, Emery added that the ECRL is investigating a number of ideas.
“One of our top priorities is to begin the safe circulation of books and other materials for people who aren’t on-line and are unable to take advantage of our new digital services,” she stated. “For those that are on-line, I encourage them to sign up for a free library card virtually and take advantage of these new services. The range of high-quality content available is impressive.”
The public can still find service updates on their Web site: ecrl.library.ns.ca, via Facebook: facebook.com/EasternCountiesRegionalLibrary, and on Twitter: @ecrlibrary.
Visit ecrl.library.ns.ca/digital-content for a full list of digital services, which are always available and free for everyone with a library card. Those who do not have a library card can register on-line by visiting ecrl.library.ns.ca/registration. Those who need assistance with digital services or have questions about their library account, can call ECRL’s toll-free phone number at 1-855-787-7323 (call Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm) or e-mail: membership@ecrl.ca.