Dear friends, family, and neighbors in the Mississippi Valley Library District (MVLD),
First and foremost, allow me to state on behalf of the MVLD staff how much we miss each and every one of you! We are anxious and eager to begin serving you on location again in the near future.
Now that the State of Illinois has moved into Phase 3 of the “Restore Illinois” plan, you understandably want to know when the MVLD’s buildings are reopening. The truth is that we do not have a firm reopening date yet because we are still monitoring local COVID-19 data and our actions will be contingent on being able to provide a safe and healthy environment for you and our staff. However, we are taking the first steps needed to begin restarting services. After working remotely for the past two-and-a-half months, we are bringing our staff back into the buildings to prepare the buildings, our collections, and our modified procedures for a gradual reopening of services. Once these internal preparations are close to completion, we will make a decision about moving into the next reopening stage, which will include the return of some on-site services.
But, we also want you to know that we’ve never stopped working for you. Although the MVLD’s buildings have been closed, we have been:
- Creating nightly bedtime story videos (a new activity)
- Creating thrice-weekly spooky story videos (a new activity)
- Creating weekly Baby Boogie videos (a modification to an existing activity)
- Creating STEM projects and other types of projects to do at home ( a new activity)
- Shifting our summer reading program plans from in-person to an online platform
- Quadrupling the amount of online content such as e-books and e-audiobooks being purchased
- Keeping you informed of the various streaming and downloading services you can access for free with your MVLD accounts
- Creating and updating your accounts so that you can use these online services
- Renewing your checked-out items and waiving any late fees that might have accrued as a result of the MVLD’s building closures
Nonetheless, we know it’s just not the same as visiting one of our libraries, and there are some services that just don’t translate to being online.
There are still a lot of moving parts and changing requirements in navigating this pandemic, and we are doing our best to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible as we move forward. Thank you for your ongoing patience, understanding, and support. As I stated earlier, we truly do miss you terribly and can’t wait to serve you in person again!
Thank you,
Kyla Waltermire, MS LIS
Executive Director