As you may know, it was announced on May 22 that Governor Gretchen Whitmer has extended the stay at home order through June 12th. All Kalamazoo Public Library locations will remain closed in accordance with that order. As a result of the continued closure we have received many questions from the public regarding library service that we will try to address here:
1. Why can’t you accept checked out materials back? Currently, all KPL drop boxes are locked and we have requested that patrons who have materials to please hold on to them until we reopen. There are more than 40,000 items currently checked out in our community, and our drop boxes cannot accommodate that number of returns without being frequently emptied. Because library service is not considered essential, our staff is not allowed to enter our buildings so we cannot empty our drop boxes and process returned materials until we are allowed to reopen.
2. I am moving before you reopen and I have materials checked out. What do I do with them?
Because KPL is not allowed to accept returned materials at this time, we ask that you either have someone you trust return these materials on your behalf once we reopen or mail them back to us from your new residence once we reopen. We will post instructions on how to mail materials back to KPL in an upcoming eNewsletter and on our website.
3. Why can’t you offer curbside service?
Because our staff is not allowed access to our buildings during the closure period, they are not able to process materials to offer this service to our patrons. We plan on offering curbside service as part of our phased reopening once we are given clearance to do so.
We know that everyone is very eager to get back to the library, so are we! Our staff is working hard on planning a phased reopening to the public. Below is an overview of what we are planning so far. Dates, times, and available services will be announced once we know when we will be allowed to reopen. We appreciate your patience. This is a very trying time for all of us and our staff is doing all we can to serve you to the best of our abilities.
