New Hours
Our new hours of operation as of Monday, October 12th.
Monday: 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
Tuesday - Friday: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Tables
We've also removed some tables and chairs in the public space. We still have chairs for patrons to sit in while they look at books or read a magazine or newspaper, and the computers and copy machine are still open.
99.9% of the people who use our library have respected the community and the new rules in this strange time and we are extremely grateful for that. The one area where we've had some resistance is among a few patrons who have used the tables for long periods of time and not respected the mask policy. Since removing the tables over the past several days, we haven't seen any issues or disruption in our service.
Why?
Our goal is to protect the community (and staff) and to stay open. Over the past several weeks, the staff and I have discussed new hours as a temporary response to the winter season and the coronavirus, which has been spiking in Wisconsin.
Our view is that if we create reasonable rules and hours and the community continues the care and respect it's already demonstrated, then we can make it through this epidemic with less disruption to our essential services. Slightly shorter hours also allow staff to schedule overlapping shifts, which helps us provide breaks from wearing a mask all day. It also offers more coverage of the checkout desk if a staff member has to stay home.
Late Hours and Fridays
For community members who need later hours because of work or some other reason, we hope that staying open until 7:00 pm on Monday will offer a reasonable window a time for materials to be picked up. We're also open on Saturdays.
Also, we're experimenting with later hours on Friday. Previously, we've only been open until 5:00 pm and we thought this was an opportunity to see if the community found value in the extra hour at the end of the day on Fridays.
We look forward to getting through this together and if you have any issues or concerns, please contact us.
-Alex