Hoover Public Library reopens its doors

The doors to the Hoover Public Library were closed to the public for four months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and library Director Amanda Borden said the staff is excited to reopen on a limited basis.

Library officials held a soft, unannounced opening in mid-July before making a broad announcement so staff could slowly try out new ways of providing service.

Things are different than they were before, Borden said.

The initial reopening plan called for limiting the number of guests in the library to 50, which is about 15% capacity, she said. However, that number may be adjusted, depending on how things go, she said. New hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Guests are asked to stay no more than an hour, and there are no tables or chairs open for people to sit down, except at a limited number of computer stations and at the East 59 Vintage & Café.

Due to social distancing, only 18 of 60 public computers in the library are available. The Friends of the Library used bookstore is closed, as are the quiet study rooms and meeting rooms.

The meeting rooms are being used to quarantine books and other materials after they are returned. The library quarantines all materials for 72 hours upon return because studies have shown there is negligible surface transmission of COVID-19 after that period of time, Borden said.

For now, children are not allowed to use the library’s iPads or toys, and there will be no in-person programs or gatherings.

Borden said it’s heartbreaking to the staff because they have spent decades promoting the Hoover Public Library as a place to hang out. They eventually plan to return to that, she said.

Interactions with staff will be temporarily limited due to social distancing requirements and a desire to provide “contactless” service, Borden said. “They won’t even be able to see our smiles, but we will be smiling underneath our masks,” she said.

In cooperation with Jefferson County’s health order, masks will be required for staff and guests, Borden said.

Reopening the library gives people a chance to browse through books and other materials — something a lot of people have missed.

While the library was closed, use of digital services skyrocketed. The number of movies downloaded increased 118% in June, and the number of children’s e-books checked out went up 242% from 891 to 3,047.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, check outs were up 137% for children’s e-books, 28% for nonfiction e-books, 27% for fiction e-books and 22% for teen e-books.

On June 1, the library started providing curbside service, and that has been “phenomenally popular,” Borden said. The library served 5,411 vehicles in June — more than 200 per day. Curbside service has resulted in a 50% drop in circulation, but at least it gave people a chance to check out physical books again.

On July 6, the library started requiring appointments for curbside service, which is less staff-intensive. Curbside service will continue for the foreseeable future and could be here to stay, Borden said.

Overall circulation is down 31% for the nine months, from 1.2 million items to 833,000 items.

While the library was closed, staff still provided many online offerings, including daily storytimes, Thursday night virtual concerts and Zoom book club meetings. The library also is holding drive-in storytimes on Wednesday nights at a city park, with the story broadcast over the radio.

Phone calls for assistance have increased from about 4,000 per month to about 12,000, Borden said.

Lara Allen, a frequent library user from the Patton Creek Condominiums, said she has missed the library terribly. She is glad to see it reopen and probably will do some browsing, but she primarily liked being able to come work there for hours at a time. She loved the comfortable seating in the Library Plaza, she said.

Josh and Audrey Baker of the Southpointe community said they, too, think it’s great the library is reopening. They utilize it to help with homeschooling, among other things, frequently checking out 15 to 20 items at a time.

They’ll still miss not having the iPads and toys for the kids or being able to meet friends there to socialize, but “I think it’s good to get back to a sense of normalcy,” Josh Baker said. “You can’t spend your whole life in fear of the unknown.”