In a recent Facebook, the Houston Public Library announced that they were back in business without capacity or time limits, as COVID restrictions had been lifted. According to Library Director Sara Lewis, business has been booming.
“Things have been great,” Lewis told Houston Today. “Within an hour of posting on Facebook that we were back to normal we were seeing people come in to hang out. We have the kids back playing games and people once again coming in to study.”
After a such a long time not being able to access the library at full operational capacity, Lewis said that people are eager to get back into the building. “We are seeing faces we have not seen in the library for over a year,” she said.
Despite the excitement, Lewis mentioned there have been a few few patrons who are a bit nervous about things being back to normal. She told Houston Today that the staff tries to accommodate those who are nervous by maintaining distance or wearing a mask if they do have to get within six feet of each other. Patrons also told what times are usually the busiest so they can avoid most people.
As for the libraries annual summer weekly reading program for kids from ages 3-12, it unfortunately won’t be conducted in person. “As we were unsure what was happening with restrictions during the planning phase in the spring, we chose to create strictly take home craft kits instead for this summer. This year’s theme is Crack the Case. Parents or children pick up their themed kit each week and complete the activities at home. We have a total of 80 children signed up this year.” said Lewis.”
Though the summer reading program isn’t in person, Lewis mentioned that the Houston Public Library does have plans restart various other programs moving forward. “We are planning on restarting our monthly Lego Club and After School Games programs. Our adult book club will also be starting in September. Our programmer Jill has a lot of great plans for events starting this fall so we encourage people to follow our Facebook page for more information as it becomes available.”