Hello Friends!

I hope that this email finds you safe and healthy at home. I don’t have to tell you what a strange few months this has been; we’ve lived through it together, apart. It appears no aspect of our lives has gone unchanged. Case in point, I like you have not been inside the library since mid-March.

At our last in person board meeting on March 10, I remember library staff describing the new cleaning procedures they were doing to help keep library patrons safe as details of the COVID-19 virus were just emerging. None of us thought that our library would be closed for months starting the following week.

eBooks and digital materials have become so valuable during this time. I think a lot of library card holders finally realized just how much content their library card entitles them to. I also think a lot of community members realized just how much their library meant to them.

I personally count the staff at the Rocklin Library among my friends. It has been fun to welcome new staff to our library over the years; share in engagements and new marriages, celebrate promotions and buying new homes, sharing hobbies and interests, and ultimately becoming members of a community. I’ll be the first one there when we can finally set foot in the Rocklin Library again… and that day is coming!

Under the leadership of Placer County Library Director Mary George, staff never really stopped working. They went from shutdown, to initial quarantine, to get summer reading online mode! Our Rocklin library has undergone a big change since you have been there last. (You might have noticed the plywood covering the front doors.)

The Placer County Literacy Specialist is now located at the Rocklin Library. Please welcome long-time library employee Angela Parron to her new home upstairs! Angela oversees the literacy efforts for the county and has been growing the community offerings each year and finding new ways to help our residents accomplish their literacy goals.

The Rocklin Library is currently offering material pickup on Tuesday from 10:30am-1:30pm; and Wednesday-Friday from 1:00-4:00pm. Be sure to order up your materials through your library account and set your pickup location to Rocklin, and you’ll get an email when your holds are ready to be retrieved. You may return materials Monday-Friday from 9:00am-4:00pm. Due to the need for materials to  quarantine a few days, you may notice a small lag on materials coming off of your account; but never fear, they will!

If you’ve made it this far, you deserve this next bit of news! The countdown to reopen the Rocklin Library has started! Library Administration has been working with County Health and other departments to ensure public safety and the wellbeing of staff in our branch reopening. That means the current COVID-19 testing operation has to be moved out of the building first. A new location is being finalized and once it is confirmed, a 30 day notice will be given for them to vacate. I’m optimistic that we will be able to mask up and walk into our library as we approach the holiday season.

We’ve had so many heroes during this COVID-19 season. From the neighbor who helped you hunt down toilet paper; to our essential workers on the front lines; to our library staff who never stop trying to find ways to reach our community and provide for our education and entertainment – you have my gratitude. 

Michele Vass

President