Wapiti Regional Library branches will not be opening June 29, even though they can.
Libraries across the province are allowed to open Monday as part of Phase 4.2 of the government’s Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan.
Wapiti Community Services Librarian Lindsay Baker told northeastNOW the government’s announcement on Tuesday was great news.
“It is very exciting,” Baker said. “We’ve definitely gotten a lot of feedback from patrons that have been missing their library and [are] eagerly waiting for us to be available to them again.”
However, Wapiti’s branches will stay closed for the time being. Several other communities have elected to remain closed as well, including Regina, where libraries are slated to re-open in mid-July.
Baker said Wapiti doesn’t have a firm date set on when branches will open their doors.
“Like the other libraries, we want to make sure that everything is in place so that we can open in a manner that is safe both to the public and to our staff,” Baker said. “We are finalizing the plans and policies that our branch libraries will follow, and we hope to be able to announce soon what the actual open date will be.”
She said she hoped the announcement of libraries re-opening will come right after the Canada Day celebrations.
Wapiti had just launched the curbside pickup service in several communities, and Baker said that has been going very well. She said they had planned to extend that service to the remainder of the branches, but the government’s announcement on Tuesday means those branches will just re-open in some format instead.
Baker told northeastNOW work is taking place to prepare for the re-opening of local libraries.
“Patrons can be assured that we are getting things in line as quickly as we can, and that we look forward to seeing them again soon,” Baker said.
Wapiti Regional Library has 47 branches throughout northeast and north-central Saskatchewan.
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