Today we got confirmation from Riverton Free Library’s Director and Branch Manager, Christian Pulverenti, that if you have books to return, they are being collected at the Cinnaminson branch of the BCLS, even if you did not take them out from that library.

If you wish to receive Curbside Service, you can request a book from the Cinnaminson branch and arrange with them for them to deliver to your vehicle .  You will not be able to order an item from another branch, such at Riverton — only materials found at that, specific library, be it Cinnaminson, the Main Library in Westhampton, or Evesham or Pemberton.  Contact each library, directly for details.  You can search the BCLS online catalog for titles and material locations.

Image thanks to Amazon.com

Great literature can help create new ideas and meaningful conversations.  Need some help discussing difficult topics?  This is a reposting of an article from June 2nd, 2020 The New York Times entitled These Books can Help You Explain Racism and Protest to Your Kids.  The book list that they list in their article includes the Ezra Jack Keats’s classic, The Snowy Day, as well as a lovey, new book entitled Hair Love, about a black father learning to care for his daughter’s hair for the first time.  Also included is the award-winning Last Stop on Market Street.

Check them out!

The Director of the Burlington County Library System, Rajna Das, posted that after careful planning, the library system, which includes our beloved Riverton Free Library, will be opening in stages.  Excerpted from her email:

• Returns: We will open book drops at select BCLS locations. All materials returned will be checked-in and quarantined for 72 hours after which they will be added back to our collection.
• Pick-up of Materials: Many of you have had items on hold since March, so we want to offer an opportunity to pick up those items. Then, we’ll also launch a curbside service so you can begin to check out physical items again, initiate our Library by Mail service and make enhanced reference and customer service available.
• Access to Computers: At this point we will provide access to public PCs by appointment at select BCLS locations.

Coordinating with Governor Murphy’s plan for the State of New Jersey, the libraries will be opening in stages.  Our own library Director Christian Pulverenti, Mr. Christian, is taking up the challenge of opening our small library, safely.  Details to follow!

Image thanks to Linda Stern

Will libraries look like . . . libraries . . . ever again?  What might be the best direction our treasured local resource will hold in the in the future?

The New York Times suggests changes in library service in their opinion piece in the May 28, 2020 article, After the Coronavirus, Libraries Must Change.  They discuss the safely delivery of books, expanding WiFi so that the digital divide is not so great that users can’t access online resources, and that, yes, we still need a physical library in our lives.

At our Burlington County Library System, their Technology For All Foundation is actively working to address unequal technology access within our communities.  Check it out!