You probably wouldn’t have dreamed at this time last year that you would soon be living in a world where library visits were by appointment only – however, if you’re in High Point, that’s now the world you live in.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, the High Point Public Library finally reopened after closing during the coronavirus pandemic – though it opened with some major changes to previous practices and the library is now offering only restricted access to some of its services.
For instance, people can now only visit the library after making a phone appointment and they’ll be booted out before an hour is up. Those who wish to drop by the library can call during operating hours to make a 45-minute appointment.
According to new guidelines that the library announced this week, the new hours will run from Monday through Thursday, with appointments available at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon – and then again at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. On Fridays, appointments will be the same except that the last one will be at 4 p.m.
If you want to get a book in High Point on a weekend, you’ll have to head to a local bookstore or download something on your Kindle or iPad.
Access at the High Point library will be limited to 35 customers every hour. Library staff will be at the front door to allow entrance to those who’ve made appointments. Then, at a quarter till the hour, an announcement will be made asking customers to make their final selections and check out.
Each day, the High Point library will close between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. so that heavily used areas can be cleaned and sanitized. Also, one day a week, after staff and the public are clear of the building, custodians will use a sanitizing fogger for deep cleaning.
The library’s drive-through window and telephone assistance will continue to be available until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 6 p.m. on Fridays, and until 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The drive-thru and phone service will close five minutes before the closing hour that day.
The public computing center will be closed, but there are ten express stand-up computers available on the second floor. Those have been placed six feet apart and they have keyboard covers that can be easily cleaned.
The library is also creating several displays of new fiction and non-fiction offerings in the lobby, so that customers who are seeking new reading or viewing materials can find what they need without going anywhere else in the library.
In “an effort to discourage lingering,” public seating has been removed throughout the building.
Disposable masks will be available for any customer who doesn’t have one.
For more information, please contact Mary Sizemore at mailto:mary.sizemore@highpointnc.gov or (336) 883-3694.
I inherited a library of books from a relative. It was heavy on biographies and travel. Anyway, I offered most of them to the GSO public library. I recd two emails that were written by a man who obviously attended college. At the same time, they were nearly incomprehensible. Full to strings of big words that did nothing but cloud the issue.
My take, and I may be wrong, was that the library didn’t want them. The people of the City pay taxes to support the library. As a senior, finally I have wised up. I don’t buy books, I borrow them. I always have a book going. My reading list is “out of control”, so I have no trouble finding one the library might have. My issue, why would they not want a copy of a book that they do not have?
My conclusion is that people are not reading. I have spoken with younger “well-accomplished” friends and family, who say that they do not read. This includes my son-in-law, out of Wake Forest. I asked how he got his news and current events. He remarked mostly social media, and some TV.
And they are now running our country…..