All 26 Contra Costa County Library locations will close until further notice as a precaution to help prevent the spread of coronavirus in the community.
Based on recommendations from the County Health Department, the closures are necessary to encourage social distancing and protect both patrons and staff in the libraries.
All library programs and events as well as community use of meeting rooms are canceled until further notice.
Book drops will remain open, but as materials can carry viruses for several days, patrons are encouraged to keep items until the libraries reopen. The Library will automatically extend due dates on all materials. All overdue fines were eliminated in 2019 and no other negative consequences will result from late items during this closure.
“Closing libraries is a necessary step for the health and safety of our communities,” said County Librarian Melinda Cervantes. “We hope this will help people to avoid further transmission or exposure to the virus.”
Patrons are encouraged to use library services available online including access to eBooks and eAudiobooks with Overdrive/Libby, Enki eBooks, streaming movies through Kanopy and Video Storytime.
For more information about library services available online, please visit ccclib.org.
What about bridge tolls and parking meters?
I hope staff will be paid for this time off. Hope County does right by employees during this time, which Contra Costa is the worst! Lowest salaries &benefits in the 9 Bay Area Counties – cause they don’t value employees only hefty paid contractors that get their monthy amount regardless of how often they actually work!
Anon – not sure what bridge tolls & parking meters has to do with the library? Meters are by City, not County, bridge tolls from State, not County.
People still go to these things?
To do what?
Is their Google not working?
I love checking out books from my local library!
DVC library has great collections of books on economics and art and other things. Really fantastic. That is material not on google. You really should try walking around the stacks. There is amazing stuff there. It is also a great place to study where you can choose the level of noise or quiet in different places.
The local libraries have many events and programs for people of all ages. Just go online and look at the Events Calendar for the branch closest to you. I take my grandson to the Ygnacio branch for pre-school story time programs. They’re wonderful. There’s even an English/Mandarin story time. My grandson is bilingual (I am not) so it is a very good experience for him. There are also many events offered for adults. I love to read and I use the Overdrive and Libby websites for e-books. The libraries are definitely keeping up with the times and they provide a great service and educational experience for children and adults.
@ DVC Student not sure how tongue in cheek or trolly your comment is, but I will take it at face value. If you are a DVC student of typical DVC student age (20ish), you may be too young to remember The Internet That Didn’t Suck. The internet USED to be a source of more or less reliable and quality information. Similar to say, the books in a library. Even as the quantity of information increases on the internet, the veracity of that information as a percentage plummets. Personally, I am frequently frustrated by the LACK of information available on the internet for things that I USED to able to find. While the internet is technically always expanding at breakneck speed, in other ways it is simultaneously CONTRACTING, the amount of quality information decreasing, while click bait and advertising disguised as content is increasing.
For reasons I do not understand, as I am just disinterested in the economics of hosting websites or the evolving nuances of the internet ecosystem, I can say unequivocally that there are fewer websites on the esoteric topics in which I am interested. Fewer good sites with technical specifications. This is purely speculative, but I suspect that much information that is deemed “proprietary” is no longer up. The “information wants to be free” ethos is clearly losing the battle to the forces of monetization.
To be sure, there are plenty of garbage books out there, too. But I strongly disagree with the view that public libraries or any repository of the printed word are an obsolete method of warehousing information.
Not sure if your assinine comments stem from an urge to troll or that you are a complete imbecile. More likely the latter.
As old fart stated earlier, today’s internet has devolved to a sorry state where accurate unbiased information is very difficult to obtain. If you believe that Wikipedia is an impartial purveyor of reliable information you are deluded. This is an indisputable fact that eludes the glib and callow ‘minds’ of many among the millennial generation. The library is still the greatest free repository of quality information and enduring wisdom that exists.
There are a host of other compelling reasons why libraries endure. for parents the library offers a place to expose their young children to early literacy, interactive activities, oral storytelling and opportunities for socialization. In an age where children are emotionally, socially and intellectually stunted and warped by excessive exposure to screens , the library acts as a potent counter balance to these ills.
Libraries are a nexus point for all manner of outreach and volunteer organizations that aim to help struggling individuals improve their lives — there are adult literacy programs, English conversation groups for non natives, legal advice, computer help, etc, etc. The library offers free language learning programs like Rosetta Stone, and access to all manner of databases.
God help us if the haughty disdain of morons and cultural Philistines like ‘DVC Student’ ever prevails. The next Dark Age will be ushered in by very clever but utterly shallow technocrat nerds who want to consign ‘the past’ and all its baggage and relics (books, libraries but also voice calls and live conversation) to Oblivion .
@ DVC Student
I was wondering the something…
I was going to pick up some books and DVDs to read and watch while I stay inside. This is because 25 people got sick in the county.
@Doh- I feel the snark in your comment that everything is closed and only 25 people got sick in the county.
I guess this is too hard to understand for some people, but socially distancing is the point to keep that number low.
I hope the county considers reassigning library workers impacted by the shutdowns to other jobs on a temporary basis.
Librarians might be able to support some of the social work and outreach functions that are going to be badly needed. For example what if librarians were assigned to do telephone outreach (from their own homes) to isolated seniors, and to parents with children who are going to need help with home schooling. And on an even more basic level, a lot of people would benefit greatly if someone simply called them once a day to chat, or to see how they are doing.
Well, that’s a fine kettle of fish. Here I am stuck at home with a teenager who’s out of school for at least three weeks. No sports on TV except old reruns, and now no books to read either. Lucky I picked one up yesterday. Maybe I’ll have to write one of my own? Teenager already plotting with his buds to get out and do something. This is going to get hard on all of us.
You aren’t alone there, Jojo Potato. And it’s about to get very real. If you need anything from the pharmacy, or other necessary provisions, I recommend getting them as soon as you can.
I highly recommend checking out the app “Libby”. You can utilize your CCC library cars to check out any e-books or audio books in the library system and read them on your phone…or transfer to an e-reader if you have one. Not the same as a physical book, but something to fight the boredom!
Not a smart move for the homeless who are out in the cold and rain.
You’re just moving people from one area to another. You can’t close schools and then expect parents to take their kids to daycare. That’s just shifting children form germ filled environment to another. Daycare are now overcrowded instead of schools
How can an exiting library card be renewed without going to the library?