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COVID-19 has limited or closed many public and private services in Wisconsin, and Public Libraries have not been immune. That has changed slightly with Gov. Tony Evers’ most recent Safer at Home Order.

On April 16th, Gov. Evers stated that at 8:00 a.m., on April 24, public libraries could begin offering curbside pickup of books and other library materials. The public libraries in New Glarus, Monticello, and Belleville will soon begin offering this service.

Curbside pickup will be limited to the items within the library’s collection. The Safer at Home Order does not allow for the movement of library materials from one library to another to fill holds.

Due to the library delivery system not being operational, these libraries request that you help them by keeping any items currently checked out until a plan for returns is announced in your community. Due dates have been extended and no fines will be incurred.

The Safer at Home Order allows scheduled, contact-less pickup of library materials.

Belleville Public Library patrons can request materials via LINKcat or call (608) 424-1812 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 9:00 a.m.- Noon for assistance. Library staff will contact you when your materials are ready to schedule a pickup time. Specific information is available at http://www.bellevillelibrary-wi.org. Please no returns at this time.

Monticello Public Library will begin to offer curbside pickup on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning May 5th. Patrons can either place holds on items through LINKcat or contact the library Monday through Thursday for assistance via phone or email. For full details into our process, visit our website http://www.monticellopubliclibrary.org or contact the library at (608) 938-4011 or mntpublib.info@gmail.com for more information. We are not accepting returns at this time.

New Glarus Public Library will offer pickup times on Fridays beginning May 1st. Patrons can place holds in LINKcat or request assistance via phone or email. After you receive the automated notification that your holds are ready, contact the library at (608) 527-2003 or staff@ngpl.org to schedule your pickup. For further details, see http://www.newglaruspubliclibrary.org/curbside.

“We are thrilled to begin offering this limited library service,” said Monticello Library Director Katrina Linde-Moriarty. “We know how much library resources, services and programs mean to residents, and we want to continue providing those resources in any manner we can. Curbside pickup is the first step in our journey back to normal.”

The majority of libraries within the South Central Library System (Adams, Columbia, Dane, Green, Portage, Sauk and Wood Counties) have either started offering curbside pickup or will do so within the next several weeks.

If you regularly use a library in a different community, you can get more information by visiting http://www.scls.info/librariesbounceback. Each library has its own start date and specific guidelines for curbside pickup so it’s important that you visit those library websites for more information.

All public library buildings remain closed to the public.