Director's Corner: Library Update

Director's Corner: Library Update

Contributed by John Owen, Director

In accordance with directives from Governor Larry Hogan, all state buildings were closed to the public as of March 13.  Also, the staff of state agencies were instructed to work remotely as much as possible to practice social distancing.   In compliance with these directives, only a core staff are on-site at the library to provide service.

We move into this new phase of operations with goals of keeping our patrons and staff safe, and of continuing to provide service to our patrons, as best we can.  We are trying new ways of serving you and there will be bumps, but as we have always been committed to you, our patrons, we will persevere to make sure your requests for service are met.

The library will continue to send out materials to patrons on a daily basis.  With limited staffing, it may take us longer to get materials out to you.  We ask for your patience during this time.  Over the next week, we will be making an effort to send you more books than you normally would get, as we anticipate a time when further closings may occur.   You don’t have to immediately return them.  We are taking steps to make sure you don’t max out on materials and that we continue to maintain a flow of materials to you. 

When you call us at the reference desk, please leave a voicemail.  Our staff are able to check messages both onsite and remotely throughout the day and give you a call back.  If you can leave a full message of what books you want or the book numbers, we’ll fill that request for you.  There may be a delay in returning your call, but we are making every effort to connect with you.   We will also be checking email on a regular basis, and in many ways that’s the best way to reach us for giving requests, submitting applications or asking questions.  

Our reference desk email is reference.desk@maryland.gov and our reference desk phone number is 410-230-2443.

For uninterrupted service, the library strongly encourages patrons and caregivers to download books and magazines from the Braille and Audio Reading Download service (BARD).  BARD allows patrons to download materials directly to their mobile device via app, or onto a flash drive for use with the Digital Talking Book Machine. Patrons are also encouraged to explore our Bookshare collection, which is available for FREE to LBPH patrons. If you do not have an account, need assistance, or have questions about BARD or Bookshare, please reach out to reference.desk@maryland.gov.

Our onsite programming is canceled until further notice, but in some cases, we have been able to switch these to teleconferences or other remote programs.  You can find out about our programming changes in these ways:

Website at www.lbph.maryland.gov
Blog at https://mdlbph.blogspot.com/
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MDLBPH

Announcements will also be made via listserv and Newsline as well. 

Please continue to reach out to us with your questions and concerns.  Stay safe and healthy.  And if books can be a bright spot in these times, we are happy to send them to you.

Happy reading!

John Owen