Library Advises Of Extended Closings

Due to the confluence of holidays and furlough days the Riter C. Hulsey Public Library will be closed for extended periods during the upcoming holiday season. The library will close Wednesday, November 24th, through Sunday, November 28th, a period which encompasses the Thanksgiving holiday and one furlough day. The library also will be closed 12 days around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The closing which will begin Wednesday, December 22nd, and continue through Sunday, January 2nd, includes three paid holidays and five unpaid furlough days.

Although both closings cover periods during which library usage is typically lower than normal, library staff are implementing strategies to minimize any inconvenience to their customers. No item borrowed from the library will be due during the closings. The length of the loan simply will be extended by the number of days closed. During normal operations, customers may borrow no more than five DVDs at a time. DVDs have a loan period of three days. However, beginning three work days prior to each of the approaching closings, the library will lift the limitation on the number of DVDs which may be borrowed. Books and other items on loan from the library may be returned any time through the drop on the northeast side of the building.

“Our computer users who rely solely on the library for access to the internet will experience the greatest hardship,” said Library Director Rebecca Sullivan. “They depend on our public computing services to search and apply for jobs, to take tests, to research topics both for personal and formal educational needs, and for other reasons too various to enumerate. We are making every effort to alert those customers to what lies ahead so that they may plan accordingly.” For those who own laptops the library’s wi-fi service will still be accessible in the immediate vicinity of the building.

In addition there are other online services which are available from any computer 24 hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of whether the library is open. Customers may register for access to a large collection of electronic audiobooks which may be downloaded and played on any computer or transferred to a variety of portable listening devices. They also may sign up to logon to the TexShare collection of authoritative information sources for research in a wide range of subjects. TexShare includes databases of magazine, journal and newspaper articles, a collection of over 50,000 ebooks, and other information resources. These services are free to registered library users.

“Our goal is to accommodate our customers’ needs as well as possible while our doors are closed,” said Sullivan. “Hopefully, the city’s economy will rebound to the extent that measures such as scheduling furlough days will no longer be necessary.”