Editorial: COVID-19 just the latest disruption for libraries that change with the times
Roads will be resurfaced, sewers replaced. Snow plows will clear a path, clean water will come out of your taps. Business licenses will be granted, construction projects inspected, and police and fire departments will do their thing.
Most of the functions you pay for through your property tax bill haven't changed all that much in the last half-century.
Sure, there is better technology today to perform many of those functions, but the essential functions are largely the same.
Libraries, on the other hand, are the local units that have really had to change with the times.
When Baby Boomers were children, we had access to books, newspapers and magazines.
Today, we can check out books, magazines, newspapers, movies, TV shows and music in myriad formats.
You can search for a job on a library's computer. In some cases, you can try your hand at a 3D printer.
Disruptions in how we consume media — as well as the type of media we consume — has forced libraries to change the way they do business in order to stay relevant.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted just about everything in our lives, hit libraries hard.
In March 2020, they were forced to close their doors. Had this occurred before the age of the internet, we might have fallen out of the habit of going to the library by now.
But librarians, who have long had drive-through windows for returns, are now combing the shelves themselves and delivering your materials curbside.
More recently, as the pandemic has worn on, many libraries have come to appreciate that some people either self-isolate or quarantine or just don't feel like leaving home.
And that means some are now making house calls, ala Door Dash.
Our Scott Morgan talked to a number of librarians who've changed with the times.
The Fox River Valley Public Library in East Dundee started home deliveries to all patrons in May of 2020 and then kept it on as a regular service option. Your materials come in a nice sealed paper bag on your doorstep.
“We did have to start budgeting for delivery materials, packaging supplies and masks for staff driving the vans,” said account services manager Keri Carroll.
Some suburban libraries have expanded their programs for home delivery to people with mobility issues to include everyone.
Some mail books out.
Yes, anything short of self-service at the library adds cost, but as we've seen with restaurant delivery and grocery delivery, we are increasingly willing to pay for such luxuries.
Bear that in mind when libraries start talking about referendums.