Temporarily Pausing In-Person Service In Cincinnati Due To Surge In Covid-19 Cases

Press release from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County:

July 3, 2020

The health and safety of customers and staff is our first priority. Thursday, July 2, Governor DeWine and his team of health professionals unveiled a new monitoring and reporting system for COVID 19 infections in each county. The “Ohio Public Health Advisory System” is based upon a set of criteria and categorizes all Ohio counties in one of four levels. Counties are rated as: 1) yellow, 2) orange, 3) red or 4) purple -- with purple being the highest cautionary rating.

Seven counties in Ohio are rated “red” including Hamilton County. The description and guidelines for level three include:

• Very high exposure and spread
• Limit activities as much as possible
• Follow all current health orders

Based upon this new information, we have made the difficult decision to pause in-person services in our buildings beginning Monday, July 6. All of our 28 open locations will continue to provide curbside or drive thru service, and we will continue to open nine more locations to provide these services throughout July.

For details, read this blog post. This temporary change is a proactive decision to help limit the spread of the virus. We will monitor news and information from health officials daily so we can bring back in-person service as soon as the situation improves and the key alert indicators start trending downward.

These eResources are Always Here for You

• We're scheduling phone appointments for a variety of needs including Job Help, and Small Business Assistance. Call 513-369-6900 and our staff are happy to assist you!
• Our eBranch is always available for you to get our eBooks, audiobooks, movies and music
• The eBranch also has a wide variety of eLearning available
• Bedtime Storytime is live every Monday and Wednesday
• We're working on scheduling many more live programs. Keep an eye on our calendar to see when.
• You can find several recorded programs on our YouTube and Facebook pages

We have repeatedly been reminded that the pandemic is fast moving and requires our quick response and ability to adjust plans accordingly. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we adjust to the pandemic and find new ways to serve you.

This press release was produced by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The views expressed here are the author’s own.