April 9, 2020
Welcome to our new blog! We have just built this new blog into our website to keep you updated during this unprecedented time. First we’ll go over some nuts & bolt to get everyone up to speed and then we’ll talk about what the library still has to offer even though our doors are currently closed.
In light of recent events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the library has significantly altered our services in order to comply with Federal, State, & Local guidelines and more specifically, ensure the safety our patrons and staff. Most recently, Governor Reynolds signed an executive order calling for the closure of all libraries until April 30th, 2020. You can read the full press release here. In our case that means that while our doors continue to be closed through 4/30/20, we will also be reducing the number of staff at the library at any given time in order to minimize in-person social interaction and reduce the amount of time that staff need to leave their homes. And if we are not in the building physically, we are working remotely during normal business hours from 8am-5pm Monday through Friday. While we will no longer be answering the phones we will still be available for questions/information/etc. via email and through our Facebook page. So please don’t hesitate to contact us with any concerns or questions you might have. You can email us at our Reference account (refmus@muscatineiowa.gov) or you can email staff individually as well-our email address are located on the Contact Us page on our website which can be accessed here. Please don’t hesitate to reach out, we’d love to hear from you!
Additionally, our outdoor bookdrop is now closed. Please hold on to all library materials that you have at this time. We’ve extended our due dates out to May 18th, 2020 and we will not charge late fees on materials that were due during our closure.
Now to the good parts…
- We have turned on our Wifi network 24/7 and the signal can be found in our parking lots, close to the building. At this point you may have to drive around to find the best reception in the lot but we have ordered three outdoor wifi routers which we will install as soon as they arrive and this should provide wifi access to the entire Library property. We will keep you posted on that front. The wifi network name is Musser Library and the network password is: musserpl
- As you may already know, our Children’s department is going strong and creating amazing video versions of their normal programming like O’Baby Lapsit, Storytime, Sparkplugs, & more. These programs have available via FB Live and also pre-recorded on the public access cable Channel 5. Betty and Julie will continue to do these programs from home and post them for everyone to see. We are also working on getting these videos posted to our Vimeo channel and will let you know as soon as that is available. (If you’re interested, we’ve got some old but fun videos on there from the distant past-apologies, Betty!)
- We have also been taping our Tai Chi classes so that you can follow along at home. These will be posted to Channel 5 and Vimeo as well so stay tuned.
- We are currently working on what we are calling our Library Anywhere Access your library wherever you go, page on the website. We will add a box to the home screen next to the blue, purple and orange boxes currently there that you can click on to view this new page. The page will be a comprehensive and regularly updated resource showing everything that we offer digitally including the programs listed above along with all of our downloadable products like eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMusic, eNewspapers, and more. Right now we have a very basic version of this page that you can visit here.
- And we are working on a bunch of new videos that will explain how to use all these incredible (and free) resources in simple and quick tutorials. It will be called the Musser Public Library Academy. And we can’t wait to roll this out.
- Lastly we have compiled a Coronavirus Resource & Information page to help you navigate and understand all the information that is floating around out there. You can view this page here.
That’s it for now and we just want to say, we miss all of you and can’t wait to reopen our doors and get back to the business of sharing and providing for the community. Take care of yourselves and each other.
~Bobby