Ottawa Public Library to introduce curbside pickup and returns

Ottawa’s most fervent bookworms will soon be able to return their items to the library and pick up holds on materials that have been sitting in branches across the city since before the novel coronavirus pandemic began.

The board of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) approved the first stages of its service restoration plan Thursday morning after the province gave libraries across Ontario the green light to resume pickups and returns two weeks ago.

The OPL will begin curbside returns at six of its branches — Beaverbrook, Cumberland, Greenboro, Main, Nepean-Centrepointe and Ruth E. Dickinson — starting June 8.

These six branches were selected based on their larger sizes, which makes it easier for staff to physically distance, and because they’re generally well spread across Ottawa’s geography.

Users will line up outside these branches and place their checked-out materials into bins, where they will remain in quarantine for 72 hours before being officially checked back into the library’s system.

0:58 Coronavirus outbreak: Quebec to allow select ‘cultural’ institutions to reopen starting May 29

The OPL says there are currently 500,000 items checked out from its catalogue, representing 25 per cent of the library’s entire collection.

Users can return a checked-out item from a different branch than the one it was picked up from, but if they can’t make it to any of the open locations, the OPL is extending its suspension of late fees during the pandemic.

Library CEO Danielle McDonald told the board during a Thursday morning meeting that waiving fees works out to, at most, $50,000 of lost revenue per month. Those figures also include fees from meeting room bookings, which are also on hold.

Also on June 8, library users will be able to schedule pickups of any existing holds on materials placed before the pandemic began.

There are currently 14,000 items across the library’s collection on hold waiting for pickup, according to an OPL report.

Curbside pickups will begin on June 15 at the aforementioned branches; if a library user placed a hold on a book at another branch, that hold can be shifted to one of the opening locations.

The library will also resume its homebound service to private residences for pickups and returns on this date.

Library users keen to get their hands on a new summer read will have to wait a little longer, however.

There will be no new holds taken out during this initial stage of reopening as the library will need time to sort through the thousands of returns flooding back onto its shelves.

The library cautions this may take some time as staff work through the backlog while adjusting to new measures to allow for physical distancing and curbside service.