Even though it’s been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Van Buren District Library continues to serve residents via online programs. Director Dan Hutchins tells WSJM News they’ve been doing virtual story times and crafts, researchers can access the library edition of Ancestry.com from home, and students who need help with school work can reach tutors through the library’s website. The library has also increased the number of books and movies people can rent online through Hoopla, and extended the range of the WiFi to include the parking lots
“I’ve seen people come into one side of the parking lot and then stop for five or ten minutes, as if the parking lot were a drive-thru, and the pull out the other end,” Hutchins said.
Hutchins notes rentals of movies and books online are up around 50%. Hutchins and library directors from around the region have been in contact throughout the pandemic, and are working on plans for reopening safely whenever they’re allowed.
