After six months of trying to partially operate the Yachats library, its directors decided this week to shut it once again because they fear for the health of volunteers working there.
An increase in COVID-19 cases in Lincoln County since late November helped lead to the decision, said Dianne Allen, who shares head librarian duties with Rose Valentine. She also cited general pandemic “fatigue” among the public and the age – all but one are over 60 — of the library’s volunteers.
“It just all piled up,” she said. “I didn’t have to talk anyone into this closing. We need to step back and figure out something different.”
The library first closed last March when the city of Yachats shut its buildings to the public. Using an online reservation system, it reopened July 1 to hand out books for three hours each Monday. In October, it added three hours of book distributions on Wednesdays.
The library is the only one in Oregon operated entirely by volunteers. Before the March closure the library had 23 volunteers. Six people volunteered to help starting in July, Allen said, growing to 16 before Monday’s closure.
Allen said a hard-to-navigate online reservation system frustrated patrons and kept book use down during the partial closure. Most people want to come into the library building – that hasn’t happened since March – to browse the shelves, use the computers and internet, or read newspapers and other periodicals.
“Many think of the library as their home,” she said.
Allen said she did not know when the library would reopen, but guessed it would be when the city reopened all of its facilities – which the City Council has not discussed.
“I just want to be safe,” Allen said. “And they (volunteers) just want to be safe.”