Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
The Chelsea Public Library was only closed for one day after the COVID-19 outbreak beforeswitching to curbside service to continue serving its patrons.
While many local libraries have only recently reopened — many remain closed — the Chelsea Public Library almost has not missed a beat since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“When [Mayor] Tony [Picklesimer] first called and said we’ve got to close, my first response was how can we work?” librarian Dana Polk said. ”I just couldn’t imagine staying home, so we did close I think for one day then we immediately went to curbside service.”
Polk said she heard of the curbside idea at a conference she attended at the Vestavia Library. It’s an ongoing service offered at the city’s Library in Forest, and Polk knew it would be away for her branch to remain open.
“I thought that’s something we can do here,” she said. “It was something I wanted to implement since I saw the program at another library and thought it was the perfect time to put it in place and work out the tweaks.”
While half of the library staff chose to stay home and took unemployment due to health reasons, she said six employees kept the library operating. They did reduce their hours some, but once the word got out about them offering curbside service, Polk said they stayed busy. The library now has a permanent parking spot for curbside pickup.
“We were constantly pulling holds or getting phone calls asking us to select books for people’s kids and getting email messages requesting books,” Polk said.
She would take photos of the new books when they came in and post them to social media so that their patrons would know about the recent additions.
Visitors came to Chelsea Library, recently named the second best library in the county behind North Shelby, from other Shelby County libraries that were not open, including North Shelby, Helena, Alabaster, Vincent and Columbiana. “People appreciated they could still get books,” Polk said.
Aside from doing the curbside service, the Chelsea Library was closed to the public from mid-March until reopening May 11. The library held its summer reading program, and other programs were done via Facebook Live or virtually. Book clubs were on the outdoor patio, while still being offered on Zoom.
“When we reopened, we went back to offering as many programs as we could,” Polk said. “We had summer movies at the Chelsea Community Center so everyone could be spread out.”
Once she ran the numbers, Polk said they only missed last year’s circulation by a small margin. Fiscal Year 2019 circulation, including e-books and computer logins was 123,356, and circulation for FY 2020 (which ended Sept. 30) was 122,791.
“April and May were way down, but June through September exceeded the previous year,” she said.
The library staff continues to take measures to keep their patrons safe and their library clean. All door handles are covered with a product called Nanoseptic, a product that sterilizes the handle. Staff and patrons are encouraged to wear masks. Computers, tables and chairs are wiped down after each use, and hand sanitizer is available throughout the building.
While circulation has remained steady, customer traffic is about half of the normal amount. In the summer months, they’d normally have around 5,000 people each month, and this summer, it was around 2,500-2,700 each month.
“We are hoping after the first of year, if not sooner, to bring back other events including coding club, STEAM, KZT and game day,” she said. “We are waiting to see what happens. We are just glad to be here. We’re here doing what we can do.”
For information, visit cityofchelsea.com/225/library-home.
