Oceanside Library makes strides toward normalcy

Oeanside Library took a step toward normalcy on May 10, when administrators announced that patrons no longer need appointments to sit at tables or use computers or the copy machine.

Additionally, there is no time limit on table use, so members are free to study on a first-come, first-served basis.

Library Director Chris Marra said last month that she was excited about the library’s temporary move to the Lincoln Shopping Center during renovations to the current facility, and added that despite Covid-19 restrictions, the library has continued to offer a wide array of programs and services to the community.

“We expect to start reducing the restrictions very soon now that the state is relaxing the requirements and our staff is finally eligible for the vaccine,” Marra said. “We’ve added a number of services during the pandemic, some of which have received national recognition.”

The library lifted the need for appointments to browse and borrow last month, and though there are some restrictions still in place, it is moving toward a return to pre-pandemic services. That will soon include the return of in-building programs.

“We are working on how to best implement them in accordance with the current guidelines,” library administrators said in a news release, “but we are excited to get more people back in the building.”

Despite a return to more normal services, the library will continue to offer curbside pickup, virtual browsing and borrowing, and other services that were begun during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

All patrons are still required to follow state guidelines while in the library, including wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth, and practicing social distancing, though the restrictions may ease in light of recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Hand-sanitizing stations can still be found throughout the building, and patrons’ temperatures are taken upon entry.

The library will soon be renovated after a $33.5 million bond passed last June to upgrade the facility. Construction will force the library to close temporarily, but administrators said services would be moved to the Lincoln Shopping Center in the fall until work is complete.

Vision 2020, as the project is called, will mark the library’s first renovation in 25 years. The bond will fund the work in certain rooms, which will enable the library to host more programs and shows while enhancing security and increasing energy efficiency, officials said. The bond will cost $1.8 million per year, and the average Oceanside homeowner’s annual library tax will increase from $314 to $454.

“It’s getting very exciting,” Tony Iovino, the library’s director of community services, said last month. “This is all kind of coming together. We are actually building two libraries at the same time, essentially, so there’s a lot to do, but we have a great team. The staff has been great. The board has been great, and we’re relying a lot on the 26 focus groups that we held in the fall of 2019.”