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Rhinelander District Library Building Reopens Monday

Rhinelander District Library

Monday, the Rhinelander District Library reopened its doors once again. It’s spent that last week getting ready to welcome people back.

It’s been five months since Rhinelander District Library Director Virginia Roberts has seen many of her patrons.

When COVID-19 cases started rising last November, the library decided to switch back to curbside service only like it had in the beginning pandemic.

Vaccinations are a big reason Roberts feels comfortable welcoming people back.

“We have vaccination rates coming up. The large part of our population that uses the population during the day are seniors who are vaccinated if they want to be and a number of my staff are getting there. We’re not fully vaccinated. We’re going to be careful,” said Roberts.

While curbside will still be an option for people who don’t wish to come inside, Roberts is excited to welcome people back.

“We’re very excited. We miss our patrons a lot. This is not why any of us went into library land so we can shut the building and be church mice,” said Roberts. “We really want to be out there with our patrons, helping them as much as we can, socially distanced and wearing masks.”

It will be much like it was last time the library was open.

You’re asked to limit your time inside to 30 minutes.

There will be a limit on how many people can be in the building at once.

People two-years and older are required to wear a face mask.

“Part of the reason we’re requiring masks is if one person is sick and we are exposed we’re shut down. We’re too close as a staff in the building. We have to be very careful about exposure which is why we were closed in the first place to the public and started doing curbside,” said Roberts. “We’re very grateful for the support we’ve gotten from the public in this endeavor because we want to be able to continue to serve the public.”

Roberts says a few things have moved around since you’ve last been in, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to ask.

“We are here to help. We are looking forward to having our patrons backing in the building,” said Roberts.

The library will also be trying out a self-checkout for its holds.

The building will be open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Katie Thoresen is WXPR's News Director/Vice President.
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