As Montgomery County is adapting to a new normal during the pandemic, everything is changing. And that includes the Montgomery County Libraries.
Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) are currently closed to the public. MCPL is offering Holds to Go! Holds to Go! Is a service where customers place items on hold online or by phone, and then make an appointment to pick them up in the library vestibule or at an outside table. This is a contactless way of providing books and other materials to the public while closed. MCPL is quarantining returned items for 48 hours, following protocols established by the Maryland Department of Health.
MCPL is also offering programs virtually. Most have been very successful and well attended, including children’s storytimes.
MCPL Teen Librarian Ann Stillman sees the benefits of continuing to provide a place for the community to read. “It is good to be providing some services to our community. We have learned that working from home (for some staff) works effectively. Staff wears masks and social
distance in the branch, but we do miss customers coming in,” Stillman said.
The contactless system has kept the library busy, as they have been borrowing out many books for Montgomery County residents. The most popular ones right now among students include Monster by Walter Dean Myers, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han.
But the rate of reading for students has significantly changed since the pandemic.
MCPL Library Page and Northwest High School sophomore Tenin Dembele notes how her reading habits have changed due to a lack of being exposed to literature. “Before COVID, I would borrow books almost every day since I was at the library almost every day. Now, I don’t borrow books as often because I’m not at the library as often anymore… I do, however, still borrow books from the library once a week by placing holds online,” Dembele said.
Springbrook High School senior Maraki Solomon has turned to online resources to continue reading. “Before the pandemic, I studied at my local library every weekend. Whenever I was there, I’d check out two books each week and return them on my next trip back. Now, although MCPL does have holds available for pick up, I have mainly been reading e-books through the online database,” Solomon said.
Although COVID-19 has uprooted our lives, reading is still considered a valuable skill for many. And to get you started back into reading during the pandemic, here are some recommendations by MCPL employees: Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, a novel that explores the pitfalls of migration, identity, and colonialism through the experiences of a Sudanese man; Color Outside the Lines, a collection of short stories ranging from fantasy to realistic fiction by a variety of authors starring unconventional couples; 1984 by George Orwell, a dystopian fiction that is arguably one of the most influential novels of the past century; and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a classic modern American Literature novel that contrasts youth and innocence with the prejudice, cruelty, and poverty the children in the book often observe.
Article by Nour Faragallah of Walter Johnson High School
Photo by May Pham of Walt Whitman High School