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It’s been a long time since anyone has been able to walk into the Frances Morrison Central Library in downtown Saskatoon and browse the stacks of books or check out items.
It’s not only because of COVID-19 concerns but also because of a serious mechanical issue with the library’s cooling system that took months to fix.
That’s all going to change in just a few days. Library CEO Carol Cooley tells 650 CKOM the facility will once again be open to patrons on Monday, Sept. 14.
“We had a little problem with the chiller that was original to the building. We were actually going to open that location first, but the chiller broke down and it took a fair number of months because of parts and understanding of how to fix a 1960s chiller…it was difficult.”
Cooley says she’s excited to have the location open its doors once again, and their social workers will once again be there to help those in the community with services like computer use and other programs.
Like many other facilities across the city, several measures have been put in place for COVID-19 related safety reasons.
That means mandatory masks for anyone entering the building.
“We are requiring that people wear masks when they come into the building. If they don’t have one, at least for the first few weeks after opening, we’ll provide them with a mask. After that, we’ll ask them to come to the library with their own masks.”
A lot of the furniture in the library has been removed, not just for ease of cleaning, but to make physical distancing easier. It will also make it easier for staff to keep an eye on the number of people in the building at any given time.
“We’ve been pretty stringent about applying COVID related procedures and protocols,” she explained.
There will be additional cleaning measures in places like checkout counters. All materials returned to the library will also remain out of circulation for 72 hours.
“We’ve also added a week onto the loan period so that if people choose to pick up their items and maybe let them sit for a few days, they haven’t lost anything in terms of loan opportunity to actually use them. So, instead of a three week loan period, we’ve got a four week loan period.”
Cooley says all branches, with the possible exception of a location inside the Cosmo Civic Centre should be opened by Sept. 21.
Right now, three locations are open to the public including the Dr. Freda Ahenakew, Cliff Wright and Alice Turner libraries.
Next week, along with the Frances Morrison location, the Rusty MacDonald library will also reopen. The rest will do so the following week.