Most Grant County libraries to open for curbside pickup
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 9 months AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 10, 2020 11:23 PM
MOSES LAKE — Library patrons will be able to get books and other materials from most libraries in Grant County beginning Aug. 13. Library patrons can start reserving materials for curbside pickup Aug. 12.
Michelle McNiel, information specialist for North Central Regional Library, said Monday that curbside pickup will be limited to the materials in each library. A patron can’t order a book from another library — Brewster, for example — and have it delivered to Moses Lake, she said.
“You can go online and you can look up any books you want to get. If it’s available at your library, you can get it,” McNiel said.
Patrons also can reserve items over the phone. Library patrons who aren’t sure what they want can call the local library and librarians will provide recommendations, McNiel said.
A book can be reserved by a resident of another community; for instance, an Ephrata resident could reserve something at the Moses Lake Public Library and come to Moses Lake to pick it up.
Curbside pickup will be available during regular library hours. Library patrons will be notified when the materials are ready. Masks are required for pickup. A sign in front of each library will include a phone number to call and tell staff that the patron is there, ready for pickup.
Libraries in Grant, Okanogan and Ferry counties started accepting returns Aug. 10. Returned materials will be quarantined for 72 hours before they are returned to circulation.
Libraries in Chelan and Douglas counties are still closed for any activity. The restrictions were imposed to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in March and haven’t been relaxed.
The library’s mail order service is still suspended, because the distribution center is in Wenatchee. McNiel said NCRL officials have applied to the Chelan-Douglas Health District to reopen the mail order center and restart the service. Mail order is “super popular,” she said.
All NCRL libraries are still closed to in-person traffic. Libraries can’t reopen until at least the third phase of the state’s phased reopening plan. The state has halted that process statewide.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Public’s help sought in Quincy homicide investigation
QUINCY — The Quincy Police Department is asking for the public’s help in solving a homicide in the southwest area of town on May 15.
Ideas, suggestions, challenges focus of homelessness forum
MOSES LAKE — About 100 people came to the Moses Lake Civic Center Tuesday to make suggestions and consider options for the way forward after the Open Doors Sleep Center closes at the end of the month.
Othello considering two annexations
OTHELLO — Othello residents are being invited to give their opinions on two proposals for petitions for annexation of two pieces of property into the city at a public hearing June 23. Anne Henning, community development director, said annexation, if the petitions are approved, would be the start of a different process. “Annexation would be the first step,” Henning said.