To say that the Bashaw Municipal Library was excited to reopen on Oct. 6 would be an understatement.
Their staff of two worked all day Monday to clean, sanitize to prep for the opening the next day.
Although the plexiglass shield at the front counter makes it sound like she’s behind a “fish bowl,” once all was ready, manager Cindy Hunter says her reaction was “O.K., here we go!”
About 10 people came through on the first day, and then 18 on the second.
“I’m quite excited about that,” said Hunter.
“It was so nice to see people’s smiling faces.”
In fact, things have been so quiet in the library over the last few months, with only curbside pickup available to patrons, that Hunter says just the sound of the front door opening was almost enough to send her into raptures.
“It’s so nice to hear noise.”
And the children are happy to be back inside the library as well, even without Lego, as they can now pick out their own books rather than having library staff select a stack for them, she says.
Although the new routine is taking some getting used to and slowing things down with extra cleaning and other considerations, Bashaw library staff are just happy to be open for browsing.
It’s also been hard to remember to turn on the open sign outside, says Hunter with a laugh.
“We’ll get into the rhythm of it.”
Because of their square footage, they are allowed 10 patrons inside at a time. Children under 11 need to be accompanied by someone over 11 years old.
Curbside pick up will continue to be offered as well. Items are bagged, labelled and set on a book cart outside.
The library’s current hours are Mondays from 1:30 to 4 p.m., and Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except when it’s closed for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.