Renovated Scranton Library Reopens for Contactless Pick-Up/Drop Off
For the first time since the building closed for renovations more than two years ago, the E.C Scranton Library is providing people with physical materials, allowing residents to access a large array of books, tools, and entertainment and providing more ways for people to use the library’s resources.
About three weeks ago, the library announced that it would not be able to allow people into the new building on the long-aimed-for reopening date of July 1, which predated the pandemic. Director Sunnie Scarpa said at the time that while construction had continued during the shutdown, there simply wasn’t enough time to obtain necessary cleaning supplies and also fully retrofit the new building to allow people to safely peruse the library and its $14 million worth of renovations and upgrades.
But on July 13, residents who had holds on books or movies were informed that they could come and pick them up, as library staff returned to begin providing a contactless pick-up/drop-off system that includes not only books, but everything from kids’ prizes to telescopes.
“The first hour that we were all here...there is just like an excitement in the air, there is a buzz around the building that you can feel. Everyone is so excited to put library materials in people’s hands,” Scarpa told The Source.
By phone or online, people can now reserve books, movies, or anything else that could normally be borrowed from the library, and library staff will place it on tables just outside the building with the person’s name on it, to be picked up at their convenience, according to Scarpa.
There will be no late fees, and no limits on how much can be checked out at once, Scarpa said, as the library hopes to “fulfill all requests” for people who have spent the long months of quarantine waiting for a chance to safely bury themselves in books, movies, or music.
Additionally, Connecticut libraries are now resuming inter-library deliveries, allowing people to request materials from the shelves of other state libraries to be picked up at E.C Scranton.
“This is really a chance for us to provide as much service as possible through a contactless pickup,” Scarpa said.
Items available range from tax forms to a telescope and binoculars available for pickup.
Going further, the library will provide crafts and science kits for kids on Tuesdays (“Take-Home Tuesday”), which will be linked with instructional videos on E.C Scranton’s YouTube channel offering a complete, hands-on experience for younger patrons, Scarpa said.
Those young readers currently participating in the summer reading program should also expect to hear from the library about their prizes, Scarpa said.
Scarpa said that she and other library staff are also very aware that what a lot of people enjoy or crave is the experience of casually or aimlessly wandering, with no particular item in mind, something might seem impossible to recreate without letting people into the building.
That hasn’t stopped the staff from trying, Scarpa said, as E.C. Scranton launches a program called Reader’s Advisory.
People who don’t know exactly what they want can simply pick up the phone, according to Scarpa, and get some expert advice.
“If you tell us what type of books you like to read, what you’re in the mood for, we can put together a bundle of books...and you can pick whatever ones you like out of that bundle and return the rest,” Scarpa said.
Service for All
For those who might still not be able to drive to pick up their library materials, specifically seniors and at-risk residents, Scarpa said the library has partnered with Senior Center Director Austin Hall and the dozens of volunteers who have been providing delivery and grocery shopping services for vulnerable older folks.
Hall offered to incorporate books and other library materials with the other essential items they have been dropping off for Madison’s seniors, according to Scarpa, meaning any older or at-risk resident can get their books and movies brought directly to their home.
“All they have to do is, once we call to tell them their items are outside the library, they just call the Senior Center and have a volunteer come grab them and drop them off right at their door,” Scarpa said.
Significant safety measures will continue to be implemented, Scarpa said, with returned materials quarantined for three days after being dropped off, and the options of drive-through drop-off of materials. Library employees are also working in two “teams” to make sure the building is never overcrowded, according to Scarpa, as the library continues to work toward an eventual full reopening.
That date is still not determined, Scarpa said, with the library focusing on perfecting this complement of new services. Last week, the library announced it would provide public walking tours of the new building at scheduled times beginning Monday, July 20—something Scarpa described as another incremental step forward for residents eager to set foot in the new library.
Until then, however, Scarpa said the library is “ready, willing, and able” to make its catalog and resources available in whatever way possible.
For more information or to reserve library materials, visit the library’s website at www.scrantonlibrary.org or call 203-245-7365.