BPL Board of Trustees Approves Reopening of Central Library October 1, Curbside Pickup
When: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning Thursday, October 1, 2020
New BPL Curbside Pickup Hours
CENTRAL – 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
AVONDALE – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
FIVE POINTS WEST – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays
SPRINGVILLE ROAD - 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesdays
Birmingham, Ala. - The Central Library is reopening on Thursday, October 1, 2020, after the BPL Board of Trustees approved limited in-person service hours during a board meeting Monday, September 28.
Central, located at 2100 Park Place downtown, will be the first of BPL’s 18 remaining locations to open to the public since all libraries closed to the public due to a stay- at- home order by the City of Birmingham began in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The BPL Board voted in early September to not reopen Eastwood Branch Library, its only leased location as a cost-saving manner due to a city budget shortfall.
The BPL Board approved in-person operating hours as well as a COVID-19 response plan BPL Administration presented during the meeting. The board also authorized BPL to set up curbside pickup hours at four locations – The Central Library, Avondale Regional Library, Five Points West Regional Library, and Springville Road Regional Library.
Among the COVID-19 safety protocols being implemented to protect BPL staff and patrons:
* All patrons entering the Central Library will be required to wear masks
* All patrons will have a one-hour time limit inside the library.
* In compliance with city curfew laws, children under age 17 must be accompanied by parents or legal guardian while inside the Central Library during school hours, and children aged 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult at all times inside the library.
The Library Board of Trustees also approved BPL Administration request to discontinue curbside pickup at North Birmingham Regional Library, which had an average circulation from June through August of just 265 items per week. North Birmingham is located just three miles from the Central Library. All holds from North Birmingham are being transferred to Central.
BPL will also provide Books by Mail service out of the Central Library. Books by Mail is a free service in which BPL sends books checked out to their home to mostly elderly patrons or homebound unable due to health to check out books in our libraries.
BPL reminds the public that it remains open 24/7 online and encourages patrons to continue to check out e-books, audiobooks, magazines and download other materials online on its website, www.cobpl.org.
BPL offers many other online resources, including tutoring assistance for middle/high school students and pre-K to 5th grade students through partners such as Homework Alabama.
Throughout the pandemic over the past six months, BPL began new virtual programs such as online storytelling, a BPL Local Authors Online Reading Challenge and won national accolades from the Urban Libraries Council for BPL Read-In for Justice, a new monthly social justice program on the BPL Facebook page begun in response to racial unrest caused by the George Floyd killing.
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