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Greetings from the Dover Public Library!  Please know that we miss you and are working to put the systems and procedures in place to be able to serve you again. As you can imagine, there is no game plan for a situation like this.  A lot of what we do is dependent on guidelines and mandates from federal, state, and local health authorities, so we have learned to be flexible and patient because things often change by the hour.  Please know the safety of our staff and of our patrons is paramount.  The restoration of our services to the community will be a gradual one and there will be a learning curve as the public learns how to use the library in the pandemic age.

This week we began Curbside Pickup for our library patrons. This is actually Phase 3 of our reopening plan. The library will be providing this service with limited hours throughout the month of May. The hours are as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00 PM-6:00 PM.  Complete information on how Curbside Pickup works can be found here.

In a nutshell, patrons can call the library at 330-343-6123 to request materials, use the request form on our website, or use their account to order specific materials. A librarian will pull your materials, check them out to you automatically, and have them ready for you to pickup at our Community Room door, which is located at the rear of the library. 

Please know that this is a no-contact service. We will not be handling your library card, taking money, or making any transactions back and form. We will simply verify who you are and put a bag of your library materials in your trunk.  All returns need to be placed in either of our book drops, which are located at the front and rear of our building. 

Often I receive questions about what we do to ensure the safety of our patrons in light of the fact that library materials are changing hands.  The library follows all necessary CDC guidelines on the handling of library materials.  Returned items are quarantined for 72 hours to ensure the safety of our staff.  Items are then cleaned and then checked in off your record.  Please don’t worry about fines because we are fine-free during this difficult time.  If you have any questions about our Curbside Pickup service, please don’t hesitate to call or email me at director@doverlibrary.org.

Phase 4 of our reopening plan will feature limited access by patrons in our building.  What will this look like? There are still many unknowns, but you can expect to see counter guards in place at our checkout desks, signage enforcing social distancing requirements, staff wearing gloves and masks, and the removal of much of our furniture.  The idea for this phase is for the public to come in and browse and to pick up their holds quickly and then leave.  We know that so many people depend on libraries for their computer and Internet access.  We will more than likely be doing this by appointment.  Cleaning will be very visible and rigorous.

Phase 5 will feature full-service library access as you know and love, including the full array of programs you know and love.   

Please know that all of these phases depend on mandates and guidelines from our health authorities.  There is no timeline for each of these phases because we simply need to see how things go.

Thank you for your time and patience! If you have any questions about our Curbside Pickup service, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.  We all need to be safe and smart and keep proper perspective.  With your help, we can do this!

-Jim Gill, Director

As we enter the spring season,  and we are blessed with warmer temperatures,  my mind turns towards making things grow. Life is a bit different this year, and the growing season could not come soon enough.

This year we decided to replace our light-weight tiller with something a little sturdier.  I am frugal, (my children call it something else) and the thought of spending $700 plus on something that you use a couple times a year was just not sitting right with me. So I called my father.

My father quit gardening a couple years ago after heavy rains washed his garden away, but I knew he had an old tiller that had been my grandfather’s. He said we were welcome to use i,t but that it was going to need a tune up. So we went out on a Saturday morning, and while social distancing we prepped “the old girl” for use.

When I say old, I mean old. She starts by wrapping a rope around the starter and pulling. The best we could figure my grandfather had bought it in the 40’s. She has prepped many gardens and is still running like a champ. I am happy to report his year is no exception.

While digging in the dirt, you have time to think about life and memories pop up just like the seeds that you sow. Working in the garden felt like punishment as a child. This thought  turns to memories of the kids complaining about picking green beans. As adults, they happily take from my garden but do not aspire to anything more than a few tomato plants in their own.

Every gardener plants their garden with hope. There is the chance that you spend all that time and energy only to have a drought, rabbits, deer, or too much rain. Some years are better than others, but with the same perseverance  as a Cleveland Indians fan, we plant in the spring with the hope that “This is our year!”

This year as I dig in the dirt, and my mind wanders, I hope for bright futures for my children, and I pray that the lessons we have learned while the world has slowed down stay with us longer than the virus.

-Sally Espenschied, Library Assistant

Hey! This is Mallory from the Children’s Department. I am writing to share what I have been doing while at home. I miss seeing everyone at the library and all the great conversations we have. I hope you are all doing well, and finding the silver linings in this strange situation.

I am playing lots of board games and dice games with my family. My grandpa’s favorite game is Farkle. My new favorite is a thrilling mystery game called Chronicles of Crime. This board game includes a VR element for exploring crime scenes, which is totally cool.

My mom and I have been watching the TV series A Place to Call Home, set in 1950’s Australia. This series is about a Jewish nurse returning from post-war Europe, and getting involved with the drama of a wealthy family. It was great to find something we can enjoy watching together. My mom loves historical dramas like Downton Abbey.

I’ve been working on some art projects, too. I like to make my own pins using shrink plastic, UV resin, and glitter.  I sketch out my design first then trace it onto shrink plastic with permanent marker. After I bake it, the design shrinks smaller than I could ever draw, but keeps all its details. If you want to learn how to make them look for the artist Polymomotea on Youtube. He has some great tutorials that walk you through this process and other resin projects.

I wanted to see how the reading quest dragons would look if I added shading, and ended up making a small tutorial about shading and highlighting. It gives them a lot of depth, but I think I will be sticking with the flat colored version for now.

My mom and I started working on a diamond painting. We kept seeing ads for them and finally gave in. We work on it a little every day. It is simple, therapeutic and sparkly. About every few minutes one of us feels compelled to comment on how sparkly it is.

How I keep social. Most of my friends are playing Animals Crossing New Horizons. We chat and send each other gifts in game, and bury items all over our islands for scavenger hunt fun. With seasonal events like cherry blossom viewing, and Bunny Day there is a lot to do.

I’m listening to the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. I am almost finished with book 2, Scarlet. The Lunar Chronicles casts fairy tale characters in a futuristic world with cyborgs and a Lunar plague. I use my library card and the Libby app to listen to audiobooks for free.

And I have been enjoying the company of my snuggly kitties Carmello and Custard. It is nice to have pets to chill with and take my mind off the stressfulness of our current situation.

Mallory Thompson

Librarian

Want some really good recipes that only take 6 ingredients?  Try the Six Ingredients with Six Sisters’ Stuff cookbook.  Most of the recipes use things that are readily available on your shelves. This is a great cookbook to have during this time of people staying at home and are not used to cooking. Check it out on Axis360!

 It had so many recipes that I wanted to copy, I purchased this cookbook.  This is the second of their cookbooks that I have purchased.

There are a total of 9 Six Sisters’ cookbooks.  Some also have craft ideas in them.  I highly recommend all of them.  Check them out when we reopen the library.  You won’t be disappointed!

-Paula Fawcett, Adult Services Manager

The day was Wednesday, March 11, 2020. I was at New Dawn Retirement Center getting ready to present one of my travel programs about Italy, when the activities assistant came up to me to inform me that they would not be allowing visitors until further notice. Since I was already there and set up I was allowed to go ahead with my presentation. That is when the severity of this Covid-19 Corona Virus really set in.

When I got back to the library I was told by one of the Outreach Department’s volunteers that Hennis Care Centre also was implementing a no visitor policy. I knew then it was just a matter of time before all of the care facilities would be closing down to visitors. Since the majority of my job as the Outreach Librarian centers around these facilities, I knew things were going to be changing.

Before I left for the day, I was informed that the Outreach Department would be shut down until at least the 1^st of April. 

On Monday the 16^th we had a meeting at the library and were notified by our director Jim Gill that the entire library would be temporarily closing. Since I knew that we could not make any deliveries nor do any programs, so I asked if I could work from home. The managers and a few of the rest of us would be doing the same.

This is something that I have embraced.

Some of you may not be aware but, I do travel programs at all of the care facilities and the Senior Center. I put together the PowerPoint programs myself, doing all of my own research. This is something that takes some time.

Now it appears that I have an abundance of time.

Normally I make one new program every month. So far I have been able to finish the program about Canada, create a new one for Fiji and start one for Peru, and today is April 10^th. Since we’ve been shut down, I’ve also learned how to record PowerPoint presentations, so everyone can see my Madagascar presentation on YouTube! I have also been giving Liz Strauss, my supervisor, daily fun facts about different countries for her to post on Facebook. That has really been fun. 

We have since then been told we will be shut down through April. Oh, to think of all that I can accomplish between now and then!

This disease has affected all of us in some way or another. We may not be able to go shopping or have coffee with a friend, or visit our loved ones, but what we can do is make the best out of a bad situation. I hope that you are all able to get something positive out of the changes that have been happening around us.

I know that I have. 

-Linda Toohey, Outreach Librarian