The Santa Clara City Library will expand in-person services in the coming weeks. The Mission and Northside branch libraries will expand the week of July 26 and Central Park Library will expand in-person services the week of Aug. 23.
As the city and county continue to transition to recovery from the pandemic, the Santa Clara City Library announced it will use a phased approach for the expansion of in-person library services.
In Phase One, library patrons will be able to enter the library to browse the collection, return borrowed books, use the self-check out machines and public computers, have questions answered by library staff, and get assistance with library cards and accounts for the duration of open hours. The library’s community and study rooms will remain closed as it is anticipated that these facilities will be utilized for the special election in September. Open hours in Phase One will be as follows:
- Monday, July 26 – Mission Branch Library, 1098 Lexington St., Santa Clara
Hours: Monday and Wednesday 10am-2pm, Tuesday 3-7pm. (closed Thursday through Sunday) - Thursday, July 29 – Northside Branch Library, 695 Moreland Way, Santa Clara
Hours: Thursday, 3- 7pm, Friday and Saturday 10am--2pm (closed Monday through Wednesday and Sundays) - Monday, August 23 – Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 10am-2pm, Wednesday, 3-7pm (closed Sundays)
Phase Two: A limited expansion of hours and days of service will take place in early October 2021. This expansion will be based on a patron survey to be conducted during Phase I and subject to staffing limitations.
PhaseThree: Provided that local conditions and guidelines permit (and staff have returned to their pre-pandemic roles), it is anticipated that the library’s hours of operation will be fully restored by the start of the next calendar year.
As youth-serving facilities, all patrons and staff, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, will be required to wear face coverings while inside Library facilities and while attending the Library’s outdoor programs such as story time.
To ensure the safety of library users and staff, the Santa Clara City Library will implement the following:
- All library patrons, users and staff are required to wear face coverings while inside library facilities or while attending library programs unless otherwise exempt by State and County guidelines.
- Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and at various service points
- Available public computers will be spaced out to encourage social distancing when possible.
- Sneeze guards have been installed at all public service desks
What guidelines is the library utilizing to set these policies? Let’s be science-based, right?
The library could have been open almost Thai whole time. It is naturally socially distanced with automated check out. Sitting in a seat doesn’t spread Corona as far as anything I’ve read.
Stop being a little punk and just be patient.
“Let’s be science-based, right?” — I Used To Believe In Libraries
The Good Ship Objectivity carries damned few librarians and journalists, far fewer scientists than it used to, and no one connected in any way to Google, Facebook, or Twitter.