To our valued library customers,
We know you would like to be back in your local library branches and able to check out materials, and we miss you, and are looking forward to the day we can reopen our library branches again.
Until further notice, libraries across BC and across the country remain closed for the safety of our staff and our customers.
We are very closely following the advice of our Provincial Health Officer. Provincially, our health experts are looking ahead and considering what a safe and gradual return to increased freedoms looks like. At the same time, libraries across the country are working together to determine what safe procedures we need to have in place before we can open our doors.
Unlike retail, libraries are built on sharing – so the circulating aspect of our collections needs special consideration. Libraries function because we share things, and right now we are being asked to limit what we share with others, including space. Research is currently underway to determine what steps need to be put in place to permit safe sharing of library materials again. As soon as we have the information we need, we can build safe procedures for our customers and staff and will be able to resume serving you from our physical locations.
We are doing our best to continue to provide access to reading materials, movies, music, and information through online borrowing. And our chat reference, phone line, and online programming offerings keep us connected and serving you at this time. We know this is not the same as having our branches open, and we also look forward to a return to normalcy. However, we respect that the quickest route to that is to be patient, be cautious, and be safe.
We look forward to seeing you in our branches just as soon as we can, but until then, please visit us at orl.bc.ca. You can ask questions using our online chat to learn how we can serve you at this time, or just call us to say hi at 1-844-649-8127. We’d love to talk to you.
The staff and management team at Okanagan Regional Library.