COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of our personal lives, but it has also severely affected the businesses and organizations in our country and our local community. The Sunsites Community Library is no exception.
While struggling with the restrictions placed on in-person gatherings, it has been difficult for our library staff to remain in contact with the community and deliver the services for which the library was intended.
Sharon Arthur, our library manager, has been able to give patrons limited access to library materials while following a strict (and laborious) protocol for sanitizing those materials. WiFi services are still available during certain hours to patrons who are willing to access it from the parking lot.
However, social distancing and sanitation protocols make it difficult for the library to perform its role as the heart of our village. Masks hide our smiles, and waving from six feet away creates a psychological distance as well as a physical one.
In response to this interruption in our connection with our community and patrons, the Friends of the Pearce-Sunsites Community Library (aka “the library board of directors”) voted to create this website as a way to keep the community informed about what’s happening at the library and what to expect in the future.
The inspiration for this website may have originated with the COVID-19 pandemic, but we expect that it will be a useful hub of information for our patrons, going forward indefinitely.
If you are reading this, you are probably either a library patron or an interested community member. Either way, thank you for your support, and please stay well!