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03/31/2020 03:18 PMLike nearly every other library in the state, E.C Scranton has closed its physical location indefinitely in response to the coronavirus pandemic. That doesn’t mean the library is going to be sitting out the current crisis, according to Director Sunnie Scarpa.
After a flurry of activity following state and locally mandated closures two weeks ago, E.C Scranton has expanded its digital services and is preparing to launch a bevy of new programs, aiming to keep residents entertained, informed, and connected despite social distancing measures.
“If we go back to the sort of fundamental purpose of the library, it really is a mission that transcends a lot of these issues,” Scarpa said. “So how do we connect people to the information that’s going to help them in their life, and then entertain them? So if you think of it that way, there’s still a lot that we can do.”
Scarpa said library staff had to scramble to make sure they could still do things like renew library cards and access vital documents after the closure.
After that, Scarpa said she and the other librarians began searching for ways that they could do even more during the closure, including expanding their online catalog of e-books, providing a free digital movie streaming service, subscribing to educational resources for parents and kids during the school closure, and launching a pilot virtual book club, which will meet for the first time this week.
“We’re actively looking for opportunities...where we can make even more available,” she said.
One of the first things the library did was use some “flexibility” in the budget, and paid to expand e-book and audiobooks availability through the Overdrive service, which can be accessed through E.C Scranton’s website www.scrantonlibrary.org.
The process of adding all those titles is ongoing, Scarpa said, and focuses on the most requested titles—especially important right now, as people across the country and across the state pile on to try to download the most popular books, increasing wait times.
Another digital service the library is offering is movie streaming through a service called Kanopy, which offers a nearly Netflix-sized catalog of popular films, from recently released Hollywood blockbusters to documentaries to children’s entertainment—entirely free for those with library cards, though with a limited number of views per month.
Other subscription services have begun offering their services for free during the crisis, Scarpa said, which is something of which the library is also taking advantage. Notably, Tumble Book, a service that focuses on both education and entertainment including math learning resources and e-books for younger age groups, is free now, and can be accessed through the Scranton website.
There has also been a big focus on offerings for children stuck at home who might be struggling with the new restrictions and monotony of being confined indoors for long periods of time, according to Scarpa.
Another change that has been made at the national level in reaction to the current crisis is many publishers relaxing copyright restrictions on books, children’s books in particular. This allows Scranton and other organizations to do live or recorded storytime sessions, according to Scarpa, with librarians reading aloud and showing pictures to young readers.
One library employee, who goes by Miss Tessa, has already begun uploading storytime videos as well as crafts to do at home, to E.C Scranton’s YouTube page, and Scarpa said the library will be kicking off a regular live-stream of stories on Facebook beginning this week, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with slots for different age groups.
Not Solely Entertainment
For adults, Scarpa emphasized that another one of those fundamental purposes of a library is to help people cope, to comfort and entertain, and that residents hopefully would be able to find solace in a favorite genre or author as many other de-stressing mechanisms or practices are no longer available.
“There are not a lot of options for us for stress relief activities right now,” she said. “Usually, we go to the gym, we go out for a drink with a friend. And those aren’t options, so I think it’s more important than ever to give people access to something that can help them take a break from this.”
Despite all the restrictions on socializing, Scarpa said the library was continuing to explore ways to help people connect, something that is “a little bit more challenging right now,” though still a part of the library’s mission.
The first big project in that regard will be a virtual, video-conference book club called Novels & Nibbles, launching Thursday, April 2, that Scarpa said will start with the simple aim of getting people together to talk about books that have comforted them—no reading lists or literary analysis required.
“If other people are feeling like, ‘I just want to see a human face,’ it will be a way to sort of gather people virtually to talk to one another and still have a social outlet when we are so limited right now,” Scarpa said. “You can call someone on the phone that you know, but how do you meet people?”
Scarpa said if the book club proves popular, the library will continue holding them, with the potential to expand and with new themes each session.
With no end currently in sight for the pandemic lockdown, E.C. Scranton will continue to provide the Madison community with these and more important, affirming services as long as necessary, according to Scarpa, and not allow the many restrictions on society to keep people from being entertained, informed, and connected.
Case in point: Though the library can now easily renew expiring cards remotely, Scarpa said there is technically no way to sign up a new patron for a library card without some kind of in-person meeting due to restrictions at the state level. But she said that if someone did contact her or the library hoping to sign up for a card during this difficult time, she would make it happen.
“Just email us...and we’ll find a way. We’ll figure something out,” Scarpa said.
To access the library’s digital services, visit www.scrantonlibrary.org.