Highland County Public Library Update

This is Tomi Herold from the Highland County Public Library. The Highland County Public Library will remain closed on March 21, as previously planned.  We apologize for the inconvenience. The library plans to follow state and local government guidance on closings and program cancellations. We are taking steps to wipe down surfaces with antibacterial wipes and offer their use to the public along with hand sanitizer. If your child is too sick to go to school, if you are too sick to go to work, you’re too sick to come to the library. Please protect the good health of your neighbors and library staff by staying at home until you’re better.

The library is here for you during this flu season. If you’re sick at home or self-quarantining, we offer a variety of services that are available with your internet connection and your library card number. Hoopla offers free downloadable ebooks, audio books, movies, music albums and comic books. Each patron is eligible for eight Hoopla downloads a month. The Blue Ridge Download Consortium offers checkouts of ebooks, audio books, and a limited number of movies. RB Digital magazines can allow you to catch up on issues of over 50 popular magazines. For children, we have Sesame Street ebooks and World Book Early World of Learning. If you have the energy to learn something new, we offer Rocket Languages Universal Class and multiple search databases geared for all ages. Finally, we have online resources for job searches and resume writing, legal forms and genealogy. All of these are available to library card holders for free thanks to support from the Library of Virginia and HCPL.

Family Movie Night featuring “Frozen 2” was postponed at the beginning of the month and is rescheduled for Friday, March 27 at 7:00 pm. The movie, popcorn, candy and drinks are all free of charge. Movie goers of all ages are welcome.

The library doors are still open and we have plenty of new books for you to check out. We have James Grippando’s “The Big Lie,” James Patterson’s “Blind Side,”  Meg Gardiner’s “The Dark Corners of the Night,”  J.D. Robb’s “Golden in Death,”  Brad Taylor’s “Hunter Killer,” Danielle Steel’s “Moral Compass,” Preston and Child’s “Crooked River,” Sara Donati’s “Dawn on a Distant Shore,”  Mark Greaney’s,” One Minute Out: a Gray Man Novel,”  Sophie Hannah’s “Perfect Little Children,” Randy Wayne White’s “Salt River,”  Steve Berry’s “The Warsaw Protocol,”  Charles Finch’s “The Last Passenger” and Joanne Fluke’s “Coconut Layer Cake Murder.”

 This is Tomi Herold for Allegheny Mountain Radio news.

Shortly after Tomi recorded the preceding message, things changed.  Due to coronavirus concerns and the Governor’s declared state of emergency, some updates to the Library’s operating policy have been made.  The library has implemented a “No Unaccompanied Minors” policy for the duration of the school closure. Minor children 17 years of age and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult who stays with them for the entire duration of their visit to the library.  Additionally, all after school programs planned during the school closure have been cancelled.

The library will allow DVDs to be returned in the drop box outside the building for the duration of the COVID-19 state of emergency.  Finally, the library is introducing a curbside service for those who want to call in a book, movie, or audio book order.  Library staff will fill your order, place it in a bag with your name on it, and place the bag on a cart on the front porch. The cart will be on the porch during regular operating hours.

This is Mickey Frank Thomas for Allegheny Mountain Radio.