Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
The public library in Hay River is beginning an initiative to deliver books to people's homes because it has been closed since mid-March.
Speaking last week, Christine Gyapay, the head librarian at NWT Centennial Library, said the home delivery was set to begin on April 7, and will take place each Tuesday during the COVID-19 crisis.
Gyapay said the deliveries will be done in a safe manner.
People with library cards can request books in three ways – by leaving a message at the library's telephone number, on Facebook and by e-mail.
"We're literally just going to take a plastic bag of books and put it on the doorstep," said Gyapay. "We'll contact the people ahead of time to make sure they're at home and then we will just leave the bag of books on the doorstep."
The recipients of the books can then return them at a specific time – every Saturday from 1-5 p.m. – by dropping them into the book return slot at the library.
"Then we'll leave the books in the book drop for six days, because time is the best disinfectant," said Gyapay. "The staff will take the books out, clean them down with a mild bleach solution as best we can, check them in, and put them back in the collection for circulation. So that's sort of the process."
She said the process will mean no contact between library staff and the public.
Gyapay said she researched the process and contacted health professionals for recommendations on how to handle the books.
"So leaving them for six days is sort of the best step initially to make sure that the books are safe for the staff to handle," she said.
Gyapay noted community residents will require library cards to access the new service.
"I'm doing all of that from home," she said. "I can register patrons. I can renew their library card. I can give them their PIN numbers for the online resources."
Gyapay also noted that there are also a lot of materials out since the library closed.
Since the closure, community residents have been able to access e-books, download and stream music, and use language tutorials.
Gyapay said closing any library has a huge impact on a community, noting many people go to NWT Centennial Library to access the Internet.
"We take it for granted that we're just connected and we can do Facebook and we can do our Skype chats and what have you, but there are many residents in town that don't have that," she said. "We are leaving the wireless on that people could potentially access from outside the library in their vehicles."