Latest Guides

Community News

Library Strives to Keep Pasadenans Reading Through Pandemic

Published on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 | 1:27 pm
 
Image Courtesy City of Pasadena Website

With branches across Pasadena closed due to the pandemic, the Pasadena Public Library is leveraging its online presence in an effort to keep the community engaged and growing intellectually, officials said.

Total library circulation declined by 69.8% in November, compared to the previous year, according to city data. Just under 26,000 books, e-books and other forms of media were checked out last month, down from more than 102,700 in November 2019.

Fiscal year-to-date figures reflected a similar trend, showing a 63.5% overall decrease, from a circulation of more than 560,000 to just over 200,000.

E-books and media, however, saw modest circulation increases amounting to 10.9% in November, representing about 1,000 additional check-outs, and 12.3% during the fiscal year-to-date, representing about 6,000 more check-outs than last year, according to city statistics.

While the Central Library and its nine branches remain off-limits for in-person perusing or research, customers can call or use the library’s website to reserve items for curbside pickup,  as well as check out the library’s numerous digital offerings, said Director of Libraries and Information Services Michelle Perera. Staff members are also available to answer questions by phone.

Once returned, all physical copies of books are kept in quarantine for a week before being checked out to another customer, Perera explained.

“Our e-book collections have definitely seen an increase in use,” she said. “The physical collections are still being used, just not to the degree they were when the buildings were open.”

A library is more than just a collection of books on shelves, Perera said. They’ve traditionally also served as “a real community hub where people gather and meet.”

Library staff members have moved as much as that experience as possible online, she said.

“This month in December, we had over 60 programs that we offered online,” according to Perera. “So what we’re offering hasn’t changed. It’s just the method has changed a bit. Obviously, yes, the building might be closed, but the services really have not changed very much.”

Virtual offerings have ranged from online cooking or computer coding classes to gardening tips and Zumba instruction.

The library’s popular “One City, One Story” community book club event is continuing this year in an online format.

Online services aren’t new for the library.

“We’ve been providing virtual services for 20 something years, but it is kind of heightened at this point because of COVID,” Perera said. “That will continue moving forward.”

Some of the changes and new skills picked up along the way will likely outlast COVID-19, she added.

“We’ve increased a lot of the electronic resources we have, certainly, in the last year: More e-book collections, more access to other virtual databases. It’s really going to depend on what the community wants,” Perera said. 

“We’ll try to offer the best variety we can both virtually and in-person as we open, but it’s really going to depend on the appetite and the needs of the community,” she said.

In the meantime, not being able to interact with the community face-to-face has been “pretty devastating” for the library, she said.

“Our library staff love working with the community here. They really miss the community and the everyday interaction. We get to know our community pretty well. We miss seeing people and providing that service in person,” Perera said.

“Luckily, we’re able to still provide a lot of it via live chat, via Zoom, via telephone, via curbside. Still, there’s really nothing like welcoming people into the building and having that hustle and bustle,” she said.

“We can’t wait for the opportunity to reopen the libraries when it’s safe to do so,” she said.

More information is available on the Pasadena Public Library website at cityofpasadena.net/library.

See also:

Pasadena Public Library Names Selections for ‘One City, One Story’ Community Book Group

Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

Make a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 

 

buy ivermectin online
buy modafinil online
buy clomid online
buy ivermectin online