TheUniversity of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing(UP-ICW) recently offered its Philippine Literature collection for free online browsing amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On June 15, UP-ICW announced on Facebook and Twitteran initiative called Freelipiniana:MalayangPagbasasaGitnangPandemyawherein it offered itsonlinelibraryof Philippine orFilipinianaliteratureand attached links to thefree archive andthe introduction page.

Para samalayangpagbabasasagitnangpandemya! the post read.

In its introductory statement,theUP-ICW said that thegoal of this project is tobring these materials, which are mostly unavailable in digital format, closer to readersas they cope with the global financial and economic crisis.

As libraries continue to be inaccessible due to COVID19, the peoples access to reading materials remains limited. This is especially true forFilipinianaselections which are prized for their cultural and intellectualvalue butare largely unavailable now because many have not yet been digitized and opened for online access,the statement read.

TheUP-ICW also hopes to encourage literacy and make education accessible through published literary texts such as novels, zines, poems, books and anthologies.

Through theFreelipinianaOnline Library, the LIKHAAN: UP Institute of Creative Writing aims to collect and uploadFilipinianaworks to allow readers to consume these local texts from the safety of their homes, be they for leisure or research. We want to encourage literacy and make education accessible even while the pandemic limits many of our essential activities, it said.

It alsostated thatFilipinoauthors and publishers of the featured works volunteeredfor this projectcurated by Filipinos for Filipinos.However, these selections cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission.

Uploaded works may be read on the website, with some available for download. While these materials are accessible, they cannot be printed, reproduced, or sold without permission from the author/owner, the statement read.

On the archive page, selectedworks of fiction, non-fiction, poetry,and childrens literatureare accessibleto read and download for free.Those under drama and graphic literature, meanwhile, will be made free soon.

Libraries, museums and other leisure or recreational places are still not allowed to reopen during the relaxed general community quarantine phase.

However, before May ended, the National Task Force against COVID-19 allowed their gradual resumption at reduced capacity which started on June 7.

Since strict lockdown measures were imposed last March, big digital libraries such as Scribd, JSTOR andScience Direct offered a part of their large databases for free access during the duration of the pandemic.

As of writing,somecontent onScribd, JSTOR and Science Directcan stillbe accessed for free.

READ:You can now access digital libraries JSTOR, Scribd and Filipino creatives works for free. Heres how.

Meanwhile, UP-ICW recently announced that the website went down over some technical issues butis now up and running.

The website is back up and running! Well keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for your patience. Feel free to check out theFreelipinianalibrary now, it said on Facebook.

UPDATE: The website is back up and running! We'll keep working to prevent similar incidents in the future. Thank you for

Posted by Likhaan: University of the Philippines Institute of Creative Writing onMonday, June 15, 2020

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Freelipiniana: UP Creative Writing department shares online library of Philippine literature to public - interaksyon.com

The American Library Association (ALA) recently announced that the Round Rock Public Library was selected to receive a $2,000 grant to participate in Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, an initiative of ALA and the Public Library Association (PLA), sponsored by Grow With Google, the tech companys economic opportunity initiative. We will be utilizing this grant to continue our workshops for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Libraries have long been Americas gathering place for learning. From learning new digital skills for the workplace, to creating a rsum or growing your business online, people are going to libraries as resources for professional growth now more than ever, said Nicky Rigg, program manager for Digital Skills outreach at Google. Grow with Google is excited to support library programs across the country to help ensure that economic opportunity exists for everyone.

Join us for our next free virtual business workshop, Everything You Need to Know about Google My Business, presented by Jon Bean and SCORE Austin, Tuesday, June 16, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Click here for a spot

This program is funded by Libraries Lead with Digital Skills, which was created so that local libraries can combine their own program offerings with Grow with Google training materials to offer virtual community workshops or other activities aimed at empowering small businesses to grow online or assisting job seekers to prepare for and find work.

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Library selected to participate in Libraries Lead with Digital Skills - City of Round Rock

People will be asked a series of health questions at the door before being allowed inside.

The Confederation Centre Public Library in downtown Charlottetown has officially reopenedto the public.

The centre's library, along with the public library inSummerside, reopenedJune 12, offering counter serviceafterbeing closed fortwo and a half monthsdue to COVID-19.

But borrowing a bookwilllook a little different now. The Charlottetown location will be operating at a limited capacity and there are restrictions in place.

People will be asked a series of health questions at the door before being allowed inside.

Once inside, browsing for books will not be permitted. Instead, library staffwill speak with patrons about their interests and what kind of booksthey are looking to borrow, then pick out a varietyto choose from.

"We do wish people could browse, but I know personally, I found it kind of fun to ask people what they like and talk about books and pull things for them to read and hope I find a new author that they're really going to love," said Beth Clinton, a regional librarian based at the Confederation Centre Public Library.

Those looking for a specific title can reserve it ahead of time online and go to the library to pick it up. Computer services willnot be permitted at this time, but Wi-Fi will still be accessiblefrom outsidein the courtyard.

"We just wanted to offer as much services as we could at this point," said Clinton.

Staff have also taken the time to reorganize the childrens section. Childrens books have been curated into sections based on interest and age groups to make it easier for children and their parents to find what they're looking for.

Prior to reopening, the library sought approval on its service plans from the Chief Public Health Office.

Throughout the provincial public health closures, patrons with library books were asked to hold onto them until they reopened. The Confederation Centre Public Library hada process for dropoffsin place.

"We are putting them into bins, washing up very carefully and quarantining them for 72 hours before they are checked in and made available for the next person," Clinton said.

She saidthe library chose this cleaning process based on health recommendations.

"That quarantine is based on what many other libraries are doing."

For peoplewith overdue library books caused by public safety closures, Clinton saidthere will not be an additional charge. All books and materials are due at the end of June.

"I know a lot of people have missed us," Clinton said.

The library is open seven days a week.

Six other library locations across P.E.I. opened at the beginning of June offering curbside service to Islanders.

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How your next trip to the Confederation Centre library will be different than before - CBC.ca

"Stuff weve had for two or three years, were running out of," said Michelle Barron, owner of The Book House in Maplewood. "Weve got a ton of backorders"

Author: Lea Konczal St. Louis Business Journal

ST. LOUIS White Fragility.

How To Be An Antiracist.

So You Want To Talk About Race.

Such titles, once primarily tucked away in niche sections of bookstores, now top Amazon and New York Times bestseller lists in the wake of national outrage and soul-searching after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer. In St. Louis, 500-plus miles from the Minneapolis street corner where Floyds death triggered national protests, books about race have been flying off the shelves of booksellers and libraries.

Its just been overwhelming in the last couple weeks, said Sarah Brown, manager of acquisitions and collection development at St. Louis County Library. Its incredible.

Although the librarys 20 branches are only open for curbside pickup, Brown said the library has seen hugely increased demand for books about race across all formats (print, e-books and audiobooks).

The librarys most-requested title is White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, which currently tops The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Prior to the nationwide protests, the library's print copies of the book were typically only checked out about once a month. As of Monday, the book had 375 holds on 11 print copies, 659 holds on 100 e-book copies, 489 holds on 40 downloadable audiobooks and 49 holds on three audiobook CDs.

We have been repurchasing from our vendors like mad, Brown said. The library is using its robust e-media budget to quickly add more e-books and downloadable audiobooks for wide range of titles (due to publisher restrictions, e-media copies are limited to one checkout at a time). Normally the library has a maximum limit of 100 e-media copies per book, but SLCL broke its rule to buy 140 e-media titles of White Fragility since June 1. Before that, the library had just 10.

St. Louis Public Library has also seen skyrocketing holds on a wide range of titles about race. Meanwhile, people who dont want to wait months for a library book are turning to local bookstores.

Stuff weve had for two or three years, were running out of, said Michelle Barron, owner of 34-year-old independent bookseller The Book House in Maplewood. Weve got a ton of backorders.

Barron said the sudden influx has doubled The Book Houses sales, which had fallen to just 25% of pre-pandemic levels. Barron credits media outlets and influencers for raising customers awareness of titles.

Everybodys got these reading lists, and (customers are) coming with the reading lists that have been posted, which is great, she said.

A few miles away in Webster Groves, independent bookseller The Novel Neighbor has seen a 200% increase in sales of nonfiction books about race since May 27, two days after Floyd's killing. Sales of fictional works by black authors and illustrators are up, too.

Aside from White Fragility, some of the bookstores best-selling titles are So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Uluo and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. Owner Holland Saltsman said she is ordering cartons of the titles to keep up with demand.

Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books in the Central West End, said all of her stores current bestsellers deal with topics of race.

If it wasn't clear before why a bookstore needed to be open or somehow functional through Covid, it certainly got clear right away after George Floyds death, Kleindienst said. People need information, they need to process, they need to have resources. They look for books to explain things to children, to help with stress.

EyeSeeMe, a black-owned University City bookseller that specializes in African American childrens books, recently hired three new people to keep up with demand. Owner Jeffrey Blair said when the national protests started and he looked at the orders coming in, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"I thought maybe something was wrong with my system," he said.

Although Blair said the majority of the demand has been for adult books about race, which EyeSeeMe has always stocked, there are also more parents inquiring about kids' books. Whereas 25% to 35% of his customers had been non-black before the pandemic, Blair said he's now seeing a 50-50 split.

"There's been a really big increase of white parents wanting to educate themselves and their children about racism," he said.

Click here for the full story.

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St. Louis-area libraries, booksellers see influx of demand for books about race - KSDK.com

The North Shore Library, located on the ground floor of the BVK office building at 6800 N. Port Washington Road, is in need of a renovation, but the four communities that belong to the North Shore Library have been unable to reach a joint library agreement, deadlocking on Glendale's proposal to charge rent for the building.(Photo: C.T. Kruger)

Four North Shore communities agreethe North Shore Library is in need of renovations, but their inability to come to consensus on a joint library agreement has prompted Glendale officials to float the possibility of relocating the library to a new building.

Officials in Glendale, River Hills, Bayside and Fox Point have all agreed to fund a $4.2 million renovation of the current North Shore Library space at 6800 N. Port Washington Road. The North Shore Library Foundation has agreed to contribute $1 million to the renovation.

In planning for those renovations, Glendale City Administrator Rachel Safstrom said she and the three village managers decided the library agreement, which expires in 15 years, should be updated before they issue a 20-year bond for the renovation.

But reaching a new agreement has been difficult for the four communities, which have reached a stalemate after Glendale requested rent from the other communities.

"The North Shore Library is a great library today, but if it is not properly supported by North Shore villages and Glendale, it will not survive many more years," said River Hills VillagePresident J. Stephen Anderson.

The failed negotiations between the communities has been "extremely disappointing" for North Shore Library Director Susan Draeger-Anderson, whose main goal in her five years on the job was to push for a renovation of the "very shabby" facility.

"The library has been held hostage by the four communities," said Draeger-Anderson, who recently announced her resignation.

The originaljoint library agreementwas drafted in 1985, when the library first opened. At the time,Cardinal Stritch University sold the land to abuilding developer with a provision that gave Glendale 15,000 square feet on the first floor for community use.

Under the existing agreement, Glendale collects $1 in annual rent from the library for the first 50 years, or until 2035.

Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy said Fox Point broke thatagreement when it requested and received payment for acting as the library's fiscal agent. Fox Point had received the payments for four years,startingaround$9,000 per year and increasing to $14,000.

Kennedy said hefirst learned Fox Point was receiving thefiscal agent credit nearlytwo years ago, during the conversations about a joint library agreement.

"They never told the other communities they were doing that, and it's a direct violation of the agreement," Kennedy said.

If communities are seeking compensation for their contributions, Kennedy said Glendale should be compensated for providing the library space.

"We didn't know they were creating a fiscal agent fee, but we are fine with that if everyone is going to be compensated for what they are contributing," Kennedy said.

The original development agreement, which stipulated Glendale use the space for community use, expired in 2010, Kennedy said.

In the new, proposed joint library agreement, Glendale requested a rent credit thataverages roughly $75,000 per year.

In addition to Glendale's8.5% credit for owning the space, the agreement would have provided a 2.2% credit to Baysidefor acting as fiscal agent and a 0.85% credit to River Hills for providing maintenance service.

Kennedy said the request for rent is not unprecedented as Brown Deer and Shorewood receive a rental credit in the North Shore Health Department agreement. Likewise, the North Shore Fire Department pays rent to Whitefish Bay, which owns its fire station, and has paid rent to other communities for fire stations in the past.

If Glendale wanted to sell the library space, Kennedy saidit could be sold for$1.5 million to $2 million. Putting the library space back on the tax rolls would generate about $75,000 to $80,000 per year in municipal taxes, he said.

The estimated fair market value for the top three floors of the four-story building is$6.7 million, according to online tax records. The owner of the building paid $154,692 in taxes last year, with roughly $44,000 going to Glendale.

The proposed agreement was approved by Glendale officials in January. Bayside officials approved a previous iteration of the agreement in October, and supported the revised agreement in concept, Bayside Village Manager Andy Pederson said.

The village boards in Fox Point and River Hills did not approve the agreement, as they did not agree with Glendale's request for rent credit.

Anderson said the agreement was "heavily weighted to benefit Glendale and not the other villages."

Fox Point Village Manager Scott Botcher said Fox Pointtrusteessupport the renovation of the library, but they donot see the need for a new lease agreement.

"We have a lease in place for $1 per year for the next 15 years," Botcher said. "The board doesn't think they are getting a fair value for giving up that lease."

Fox Point Village President Douglas Frazer took issue with comparing Glendale's rent credit to Fox Point's partial reimbursement for fiscal agent fees.

"The library board approves its own budget and voted to reimburse Fox Point for some of the fiscal agent costs, as was its prerogative," Frazer said.

Fox Point village officials made a counter-proposal in January that offered to extend the terms of the lease and the joint library agreement to 2050. The counter-proposal offeredGlendale $75,000 in annual rent starting in 2036, when the existing lease expires.

The proposal would also allow Glendale to amortize the rent over the 30-year term of the extended lease so the city could start receiving rent payments immediately, Frazer said.

Kennedy said Fox Point's counter-proposal did not interest his board, which would prefer rentcredits over cash payments. Because Glendale has already reached its spending limit under the state's expenditure restraint program, he said the city would not be able to spend any funds it receives from the library.

To eliminate the issue of building ownership, Safstrom has suggested the four communities share the cost of a new building, and then transfer ownership of the building to the North Shore Library Board.

The proposed new location is a 14,462-square-foot building at7545 N. Port Washington Road, just south of Calumet Road.

If the communities agree to buy a new building, Glendale would sell its 15,000 square feetof space and keep the proceeds. The communities would share the proceeds for the 1,000 square feet of space they collectively own.

Officials in Glendale, Fox Point, Bayside and River Hills are discussing the possible relocation of the North Shore Library to this building at 7545 N. Port Washington Road.(Photo: Google Maps)

Architects have not been hired to draw up renovation plans, but Safstrom has used $4 million as an estimate for the renovation cost.

Safstrom estimated the communities could buy the building for $900,000, and then split the cost of the $4 million renovation, with Glendale paying $1.93 million, Fox Point $1.06 million, Bayside $627,387, River Hills $283,693 and the North Shore Library Foundation $1 million.

If the communities agreed to buy the new building, Glendale would no longer take a rent credit, but River Hills and Bayside would still receivecredits for maintenance and acting as the fiscal agent, respectively.

The River Hills Village Board agreed on May 20a new building was worth considering, VillagePresident J. Stephen Anderson said.

The Fox Point Village Board was less receptive when Safstrom presented the concept of a new library building at its June 9 meeting.

"I think Glendale has to figure out how it's going to compensate the library for giving up that lease," said Fox Point Trustee Eric Fonstad, who also serves on the North Shore Library Board.

Fox Point TrusteeChristine Symchych said the negotiationshave"turned into a circus."

Fox Point Trustee Marty Tirado said he has looked at the building in the past, and it needs extensive renovation work.

In a vote after closed session discussion, the Fox Point Village Board said it did not support an alternative library sitebut supports renovations at the existing site.

The dingy carpeting at the North Shore Library is 31 years old and in many spots is held together with duct tape. This long narrow space is also mostly filled with tall bookshelves, leaving little room for other features.(Photo: Jeff Rumage/Now Media Group)

The four communities' inability to agree on library funding is nothing new.

Kurt Glaisner, the president of the library board and a trustee on the River Hills Village Board, said the library has been underfunded for years, since each communities' contributions are often decreased to adjust for the community that offers the smallest increase in its budget.

Several years ago, Draeger-Anderson worked withPederson to study employee wages, and found employees were making 25% to 30% less than their counterparts at other libraries.

The top wageat the circulation desk has increased from$8.57 to $11.11 over the past several years, as Draeger-Anderson has pushed to correct its relatively low wages.

But to raise its wages, the library has dipped into its reserve funds.

Because the library is on the first floor of an office building, thelibrary is also required to pay annual buildingmaintenance fees, for which the library has budgeted$51,000 this year.

By relocating to a new building free of maintenance charges, the library would be able to direct that $51,000 toward personnel, Safstrom said.

The day after Fox Point rejected a new library location, Draeger-Anderson wrote her resignation letter to theNorth Shore Library Board.

Draeger-Anderson said her resignation was not tied to her disappointment in the library negotiations, but because she is concerned her potential exposure to the coronavirus in the library building would harm her husband, who has pulmonary fibrosis and needs a lung transplant.

Draeger-Anderson said she will continue to work at the library for the next several months until a replacement is hired.

ContactJeff Rumage at (262) 446-6616or jeff.rumage@jrn.com. Followhim on Twitter at @JeffRumage orFacebook atwww.facebook.com/northshorenow.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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'The library has been held hostage': The North Shore Library is in need of repairs, but these four communities can't find a solution - Milwaukee...

This years Summer Reading Club will take young readers on an out of this world adventure. (Photo credit: Stock image)

This years BC Summer Reading Club (BC SRC) offered free through the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library service (TNRL) is out of this world, giving readers aged five to 14 an opportunity to Explore Our Universe, and for the first time its being offered virtually to young readers and their families.

The program is usually offered in person at branches throughout the summer, and features special programming, crafts, activities, and more. This year, participants will be able to take part by registering, then tracking their progress online from now until the end of September 2020.

Its far and away the largest program we offer every year, says Melissa Lowenberg, Manager of Community Libraries for the TNRL. But we do something a little different to other libraries in B.C., because we also have summer reading clubs for teens and adults. Well have those additional programs on our website (www.tnrl.ca) as well.

The BC Summer Reading program is such an important program for kids. Were aware of the summer slide that can happen. Kids can lose a full grade if they dont keep up their reading skills over the summer. If they can read every day in summer theyll do better come fall when school starts.

Registration is now open at the TNRLs website and at https://bcsrc.ca/. Some of the online features that have been added to the program include digital badges for reaching reading goals, as well as a certificate of completion for finishing the program; live events and video demonstrations, including hands-on crafts and experiments; weekly stay-at-home activity packages; and a dashboard for parents/guardians to track their kids reading progress and the digital badges they have earned.

Lowenberg says that kids and their parents can also contact their local community library, which will have paper registration packages available. You dont have to sign up online. And each library will be having its own Name a Mascot contest, with the lucky winner going home with the mascot.

Summer Reading Club activities will be starting the week of June 29, but participants can register and take part at any time over the summer. All reading counts, and participation is easy. Kids can read whatever they want, including story books, information books, graphic novels, and comic books, and they can also listen to someone else read or tell them stories.

A really important piece of getting kids to like reading is having them pick the books and topics. When they do that theyre much more likely to read and learn, says Lowenberg. When parents talk to kids about the books theyre reading, let them describe the books in their own words, because thats much better for kids.

Or you can be listening to audiobooks together, or the kids can be told a story. Its increasing their vocabulary, introducing new ideas; its an engagement piece. And if you enjoy reading, kids see that and will mirror that activity. It can be a newspaper, or something online. Anything showing that reading is a worthwhile activity can be a terrific example for kids.

The Summer Reading Club has a different theme each year. Lowenberg says one of the highlights of this years club and theme will be the Ask an Astronomer events in July and August featuring astronomers from the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver.

Theyll be on YouTube as well. We wont be doing in-branch activities, but there will be takeaway activities that kids can pick up at branches. Were doing the Summer Reading Club, but it will look a little different this year.

The Province of British Columbia has invested $65,000 through the BC Library Association (BCLA), in partnership with the BC Libraries Cooperative, to enhance the BC SRCs website and make online participation possible this year.

Fun and engaging programs like the BC Summer Reading Club that help our kids strengthen their literacy skills are even more important this year, says Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. Im so pleased this incredibly popular program will continue this summer with expanded online features.

The BC Summer Reading Club has been in operation for almost 30 years. In 2019, it reached more than 173,000 children in more than 200 communities around the province.

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This year's Summer Reading Club for kids is out of this world - Ashcroft Cache Creek Journal

Multnomah County Library has announced several plans for this summer, including programs, holiday closures and expanding pickup service for holds while the buildings stay closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The library has expanded pickup service for holds to several of its more than 20 locations, such as Belmont, Capitol Hill, Gregory Heights, Holgate, Hollywood, Kenton, Rockwood and St. Johns, according to a press release. The library plans to open a few more locations for pickup next week.

Its certainly the service we can safely provide right now, said Chelsea Bailey, spokesperson for the library. Now we feel like we have the staffing and operational setup to expand that service.

People are encouraged to wear a mask and practice social distancing while using library services, according to the release. Holds can be placed either through the online catalog or by calling the library.

Bailey said holds pickup services were only available by appointment to maintain social distancing. She said the library staff went through a daily health screening before coming into work and theyre required to wear gloves and a face mask. Any materials that are returned are quarantined for 72 hours before being put back on shelves.

Bailey said the libraries closed in March along with the rest of businesses around the country. Phone lines went unanswered up until June 7, and library staff began hearing from community members about wanting to be able to check out books still.

We know this is a service the community has been looking for, Bailey said.

Book drop-offs are open at all locations except Sellwood-Moreland Library and Albina Library, according to the release. The Sellwood-Moreland Library will have a drop-off location after the building is re-carpeted and the Albina location is currently being relocated.

There are no overdue fines on any returned items. Bailey said when the libraries closed, they didnt want people who had items still checked out to worry about late fees piling up.

We know this pandemic has had a great toll on a lot of people and we dont want library fines to be a worry for the community, Bailey said.

Multnomah County Library will be closed June 19 in celebration of Juneteenth, according to the release. This comes after Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury declared Juneteenth an annual paid County holiday for all the countys employees. Holds pickup service will continue on June 20, according to the release.

The librarys Summer Reading program will be online this year, according to the release. Children of all ages can log each day they read or listen to a book, do activities related to the reading from June 15 to August 31 and win prizes. Once participants have read for 45 days total, theyve completed the game and will receive a T-shirt, as well as coupons for local entertainment and more.

The library is also offering its reading program for adults called Read 4 Life online. Adults who join can read or listen to four books throughout the summer and earn entries into prize drawings, according to the release.

Bailey said the library began offering an online version of the reading program to teenagers last year. She said in a normal year the reading program had more than 100,000 participants and around 800 volunteers, making it the librarys largest volunteer program. The in-person volunteer program isnt happening this year due to the pandemic, but a small amount of volunteers are helping run the program virtually.

Bailey said shes unsure when the libraries will open back up and that it depends on when the county moves into Phase 1 of reopening amid the pandemic. She said the library was continuing to evaluate whether or not all branches would be able to open in later phases, but they hoped to expand the services theyre providing right now until then.

-- Ty Vinson

tvinson@oregonian.com

503-221-4315; @ty_vinson_

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Multnomah County Library continues opening pickup/drop-off locations, starts online reading program - OregonLive

In pockets of Virginia, Illinois, Missouri and Ohio, there are books sitting in quarantine.

They are public library books that have been returned, and then spend at least three days sitting on tables or in big metal carts, carefully labeled with the dates they came in. After that, they can they go back on the shelves.

Libraries around the country are tiptoeing toward reopening, but theyre not just trying to figure out how to safely lend out books. These are community hubs where parents bring their toddlers for story time, where people come to use the computer, where book groups meet. Now all of that has to be rethought.

Its awful because its the opposite of what we normally try to do, said Karen Kleckner Keefe, the executive director of the Hinsdale Public Library just outside of Chicago. We want to be the community living room, we want everyone to stay and get comfortable. And to design service to prevent lingering and talking is so different from everything weve been working toward.

With their doors closed, libraries moved whatever they could online. Book clubs were held on Zoom. The Queens Public Library in New York changed a job-search training session to focus on online networking. Author events became virtual, too, which, while lacking an in-person touch, sometimes meant they could include special guests Jean Becker, who edited a book about Barbara Bush, brought the former first ladys son Neil Bush to a talk she gave for the Kansas City Public Library in April.

Branches around the country have also been offering curbside pickup, where books are left by the front door or dropped in the trunks of waiting cars, along with library catalogs and leaflets about their cleaning protocols. And even when the lights were off, many libraries kept their Wi-Fi humming so people park themselves outside and use it for free.

Were getting 500 visits a day, said Anthony W. Marx, the president of the New York Public Library, which operates branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. That means people are going out in a dangerous pandemic to sit in front of our libraries.

The New York Public Library said it was hoping to start the process of opening in July with eight branches that will provide grab-and-go pickup service for books.

Joel Jones, deputy director of library services at the Kansas City Public Library, said he was especially concerned with getting vulnerable populations in the door first. He said his system expects to welcome their first visitors this month through referrals from organizations that work with people with mental illness or those experiencing poverty or homelessness.

Theyre also thinking hard about what to do with their furniture, he said. Theyre going to try setting up computers that have two monitors six feet apart, one for a library staff member and another for patrons who needs help printing or navigating the internet. The Kansas City North-East Branch was in the middle of a $4.5 million renovation when the country shut down. On a video conference call a few days later with their architects, Mr. Jones said, the library leadership looked at plans for the furniture and shelving and realized they needed to be redrawn.

Ive been looking at these plans for months, Mr. Jones said. But I looked at it that time and said, This is not going to work.

One thing many librarians have noticed is changes in the reading patterns of their customers. Libby, an e-book lending app for libraries, saw a 51 percent increase in the checkout of e-books after shutdown orders were issued in mid-March. Ramiro Salazar, the president of the Public Library Association and the director of the San Antonio Public Library system, said that before the pandemic, the demand in his system was about 5 to 1 in favor of paper books, but he doesnt expect that to come back.

Updated June 12, 2020

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was very rare, but she later walked back that statement.

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid, says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. When you havent been exercising, you lose muscle mass. Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you arent being told to stay at home, its still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people dont need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks dont replace hand washing and social distancing.

If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Users are being forced to turn to e-books, he said. What we dont know is how many converts well have.

Even in places where libraries have reopened, things look different. Cari Dubiel, a librarian in Twinsburg, Ohio, said that her branch has been open to the public since May 20. But so far, the largest number of simultaneous visitors in the 45,000 square foot building has been roughly 30, she said. Under normal circumstances, their biggest clientele are parents and senior citizens. But young children are not allowed in the library at the moment, and many seniors are staying away. Teenagers were just allowed back in this month.

Her library is, however, allowing access to computers, she said, through hourlong reservation slots where she tries to help people from six feet away and behind a sneeze guard. They have a spray disinfectant for the countertops and wipes for the computers that are used after each visitor, in addition to cleaning surfaces like door and toilet handles every two hours.

We have an opioid support group and a writers group and eight different book groups. Its a very popular meeting place for the community, Ms. Dubiel said. But right now we need to focus on being a utility.

That is the last thing that will likely come back to libraries their function as a gathering place. But some branches are doing what they can to keep that connection alive. Mr. Jones in Kansas City said his librarians have been calling users who are 65 and older, just to say hello.

We call them and see how theyre doing, he said. Thats what you do in a library. A lot of people come in regularly because they just want to talk.

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Libraries Strive to Stay Community Living Rooms as They Reopen - The New York Times

NASHUA, N.H. The Nashua Public Library will announce the title of the 2020 Nashua Reads: One City, One Book selection on Friday, June 26.

Beginning that day, library members can reserve the book to check out for curbside pickup. They can also download electronic copies of the book. Book clubs will be able to reserve multiple copies to check out a few weeks before they discuss the book.

The book will be available as a paperback, e-book, downloadable audiobook, or audiobook on CD.

The goal of the One City, One Book program is to get as many Nashuans as possible to read the same book and talk about it with friends, co-workers and neighbors. Thanks to funding from the Friends of the Nashua Public Library and the Ella Anderson Trust, the books author will hold a virtual event for the library on Oct. 11.

To be sure you are one of the first to hear what the title is, subscribe to This week @ your library, the librarys e-newsletter, by going to nashualibrary.org and clicking Subscribe to our eNewsletter on the Connect menu, or follow the library on Facebook.

For more information, contact Carol Eyman at 603-589-4610 or carol.eyman@nashualibrary.org.

Read more here:
Nashua librarys One City, One Book title to be announced June 26 - Lowell Sun

Editors note: Many events are canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend contacting the event host before attending to check.

Butte County Library: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. All in-person services suspended, but branches are accepting returns and offering curbside service for holds and pickups. Call for pickup times. Reserve items in online library accounts, by phone or email. http://www.buttecounty.net/bclibrary/Contact. 552-5652, option 2, LIB-Administration@buttecounty.net. 1108 Sherman Ave.

Gray Lodge Wildlife Area: Sunrise to sunset. 9,100 acres of fields, riparian areas, ponds, waterways; shelter for 300+ species of resident and migrant birds and mammals. Self-guided trail, fishing, exhibits. 3207 Rutherford Road, Gridley. 846-7500.

Faith Lutheran Church: 1 p.m. COVID-19 Phone Prayer Group. To join, email billaugros@gmail.com.

Museum of Northern California Art (monca): Videos of the current exhibition, Unbroken Legacies: Northern California Art Glass are available at monca.org, moncas Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, newsletter at monca.org. Through July 31. 487-7272.

Vitalant Blood Drive: 12-6 p.m. blood donation, 10:45 a.m.-5 p.m. plasma donation, 10:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. platelet donation, 10:45 a.m.-5:30 a.m. source Plasma Donation. 555 Rio Lindo Ave. Call 877-258-4825 or 893-5433 to confirm todays hours.

Al-Anon: 6:30-7 p.m. Email alanon.nc.d3@gmail.com for a Zoom invitation. zoom.us. 334-6734. northerncaliforniaal-anon.org.

Al-Anon: 7:15-8:30 p.m. Email alanon.nc.d3@gmail.com for a Zoom invitation. zoom.us. 334-6734. northerncaliforniaal-anon.org.

Catalyst Domestic Violence Services: Crisis counselor 24-hour crisis/referral line, 1-800-895-8476. Temporary restraining order help for victims of domestic violence is available for free. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday for appointments, individual counseling 343-7711. catalystdvservices.org.

Iversen Wellness & Recovery Center and Med Clinic: All meetings via Zoom. 10-11 a.m. Tobacco Awareness; 11:30 a.m. Anxiety Support; 1 p.m. Self-Care; 2-3 p.m. WRAP for Quarantine. 408-638-0968. Password: 8793311. Meeting ID: 441-359-7014. Must be 18 or older to join. 897-3311, email iversen@nvcss.org, or nvcss.org/programs/iversen.

HIV and Hepatitis C Testing: Through Stonewall Alliance by appointment. 358 E. Sixth St. Donations accepted. For more information, call 893-3336, email center@stonewallchico.org or visit stonewallchico.com.

Mental Health Peer Support: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Peer support specialists video chat, self-help support groups and resources. Butte County Department of Behavioral Health. Join by phone, computer or other device. Zoom ID: 809274979. Phone: 720-707-2699 or 346-248-7799.

Northern Valley Talk Line: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. 855-582-5554.

Alcoholics Anonymous: 893-3336. Times, locations or to talk to a recovering alcoholic, 342-5756. aabutte-glenn.org.

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, Chico NA, Just for Today Daily Meditation; 7 p.m. Speaker meeting. Both at 208 W. Ave., Suite A. Park in back. 6 p.m. Bidwell Group at 1095 East Ave.

Chico Bidwell Group, 1184 East Ave.; 7 p.m. Open, speaker, 2234 Park Ave. Information, 24-hour hotline, 877-669-1669.

Pills Anonymous Chicos Got Hope: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Big Book study/speaker. Discussions based on 12-step recovery program, prescription drug addiction. Newcomers, loved ones and those addicted to other substances welcome. 2341 Floral Ave. Call/text 624-0094.

Disease Society of Americas Northern California Narcotics Anonymous: 7 p.m. Life on Lifes Terms of NA. 1341 W. Fourth St. 877-669-1669.

ARP Addiction Recovery Program: 7-8:30 p.m. General addiction meeting. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 167 Table Mountain Blvd. at Nelson Ave. Enter back/west entrance.

Codependents Anonymous: 7-8:30 p.m. 12-step fellowship; develop healthy, fulfilling relationships. Free. Youth hall, Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship, 1289 Filbert Ave. 893-4940, 228-5481.

Submit calendar listings, corrections or updates by email calendar@chicoer.com, fax 342-3617 or mail Enterprise-Record, P.O. Box 9, Chico, CA, 95927.

The rest is here:
Whats happening Tuesday in the north valley - Chico Enterprise-Record