Heights Libraries Prepares for a Partial Reopening

Heights Libraries is pleased to announce that it will begin offering limited services at the Lee Road branch the week of May 18, and has also started preparing its four branches for a partial reopening, scheduled for June 2 at Lee Road and June 9 for the Coventry, Noble, and University Heights branches.

On Monday, May 18, the Lee Road branch will begin to offer three services: curbside holds pick-ups, phone reference, and homebound delivery.

Phone reference services will begin on May 18 and be available Monday-Friday, 9a.m. – 5 p.m. (No reference service on May 25, Memorial Day.) Phone reference supplements online reference services, that began on April 27 through the library’s website. Homebound delivery, which was suspended after the closing on March 13, will also start again on May 18.

The curbside holds pick-up service will initially be only for (1) customers who had holds ready at the time of the library’s closure on March 13, and (2) customers who wish to order and pick up items currently available in the Lee Road building. These orders must be placed by phone.

Holds pick-up will take place the weeks of May 18-22 and May 26-29 (not open on May 25, Memorial Day), Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will be a drive-through, no-contact service.

All Heights Libraries holds, regardless of which branch customers had designated for pick-up, will be at the Lee Road branch during those designated times. The curbside pick-up procedure can be found here. No calls will be taken regarding holds until May 18. The book drop at the Lee Road branch will also be open for returns during hold pick-up times.

While these limited services are taking place, library staff will be in the library system’s four branches (Coventry Village, Lee Road, Noble Neighborhood, and University Heights), getting the buildings ready for a partial reopening that will allow a limited number of customers to access services in the buildings’ lobbies: new hold pick-ups, obtaining tax forms, and using copier and fax machines.

Days and hours for lobby service will be as follows:

Beginning June 2, the Lee Road branch lobby-only hours will be Tuesday and Thursday, 1:30* – 9 p.m.; and Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. with Seniors Only hours from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These same hours will begin June 9 at the Coventry, Noble, and University Heights branches.

There will be no public restrooms available during lobby hours at any branch.

“Our staff will soon be busy in our buildings getting ready to welcome back a small number of customers at a time,” said Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin. “We are removing furniture, putting up plexiglass safeguards in front of service desks, and rearranging our lobbies to ensure customers and staff can interact safely at a proper social distance of six feet. Staff will also be busy cleaning the buildings, both before and after customers come in.”

Customers must be wearing a face mask to enter the lobby, and must wait to be admitted if the maximum number of customers permitted in the space has been reached. That number has not yet been determined.

Staff will be required to wear face masks and special safety protocols have been established for handling returned materials.

“Although we are not ready to completely reopen, we are looking forward to seeing customers in the lobby in June and getting used to this ‘new normal’,” said Levin. “We will be following the Governor’s Responsible Restart Ohio Guidelines and complying with public health recommendations to keep staff and customers safe. We will continue to monitor the news and recommendations from the governor’s office throughout this process.”

* Please note: this has been changed since this article was posted. The original post stated 1 p.m.