Local Libraries Adjust to COVID-19, Embrace Creative Programs

Like restaurants and retail stores, libraries have had to significantly adjust their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. But many libraries across Oklahoma have found ways to adapt and creatively offer their services even as many facilities remain closed to the public or limit the number of guests. 

Many Oklahoma libraries embraced the pivot to virtual learning and work, offering more technology at a time when demand significantly grew from adults working from home or students attending class online. 

Some libraries took advantage of federal funding to increase their virtual offerings. 

The Oklahoma Department of Libraries, with funding from last year’s federal CARES Act, awarded an $8,140 Digital Inclusion grant to Ada Public Library to help the library expand access to digital information and resources, including Internet hotspots that will be available for checkout. 

“We already have a digital divide in Oklahoma and across the country,” said Melody Kellogg, director of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, “The pandemic has just made the divide harsher since libraries and other places that offer this free access may be closed or only offering limited services at this time.”

The Pawhuska Public Library received a $1,347 Digital Inclusion grant to purchase two outdoor wireless access points to expand the library’s Wi-Fi reach to cover the library’s parking areas and west lawn, according to the Pawhuska Journal-Capital. 

"Previously library patrons have often needed to stand under the library’s front portico area to receive the Wi-Fi signal on a laptop, tablet, or phone,” said Yvonne Rose, director of the Pawhuska Public Library. “The improved Wi-Fi will assist Internet access for all Pawhuskans, including students engaged in distance learning.”

In addition to helping students connect to online schools, libraries have also found ways to continue connecting with children from their homes. 

At the Watonga Public Library, last September’s Mother Goose Storytime program went completely virtual. Each child was given a bag with books, a stuffed animal, and a musical instrument to have during the online reading time, which was done live for most children. 

“I wanted to be live so that I could see the kids and react with the kids and be able to talk with them, but it just wasn't going to be possible to do that with everybody,” said Karen Gilliland, the children’s librarian in Watonga who also plays Mother Goose. 

In Elgin, the local library held a book scavenger hunt called Books Gone Wild as a way to involve children while the library building was closed to visitors. More than 40 books were sanitized and hid around the community. 

Children were encouraged to find the books, read them, and then rehide the books for others after posting a picture of the book with a hint on social media.

“People have even contacted us asking if it’s OK for them to put out some of their own books,” Friends of the Elgin Community Library President Jeanne Cook told the Lawton Constitution. “Several people have done that, so we don’t even know how many books are out there now.” 

Demand for books significantly increased during the initial months of the pandemic but with many library buildings closed, curbside pickup became the process for checking out a book. 

The Metropolitan Library System, which serves the Oklahoma City region, has banned guests for most of the pandemic but offers curbside pickup of books checked out online. 

Libraries that have remained open have installed plexiglass dividers at the front counter, limited the number of visitors allowed inside, and have required masks. 

Some libraries also implemented a 72-hour quarantine before returned items are again available for check-out.

Oklahoma libraries have also found ways to help Oklahomans who may be dealing with financial hardships because of the pandemic. 

“Given the challenging times we’re living in, and the financial difficulties that many people are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, something as small as a late fee might become a barrier to people making use of the library,” said Kiley Roberson, chief strategy officer for the Tulsa City-County Library, which waived late fees last year.

Some libraries are responding to the economic challenges that hit local businesses, including in Ada where a local bookstore closed last year and donated its media cases to the library, which in turn offered them to the public. 

“The library has boxes and boxes of a variety of media cases along with deactivating/opening devices,” the Ada Public Library announced in December. 

Libraries also helped in the fight against COVID-19, including in Norman where the library’s 3D printer was used to create face shields and masks for the local hospital. 

Libraries are a central part of many cities and towns and when the pandemic first hit it disconnected many libraries from the public that relied on them. But with creative planning and flexibility, many libraries across the state found a way to continue to offer vital services at a time when they were needed most.