Curbside Library Service Proves Popular Across Fairfax County

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Fairfax County residents are celebrating the partial reopening of the county's libraries by taking advantage of library branches now offering curbside service. Fairfax County Public Library employees are doing their part by making the curbside service as seamless and enjoyable as possible.

Fairfax County began contact-free curbside pickup of items on hold Monday. Curbside pickup happens between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at all library branches. Library patrons can place items on hold online or call a library branch to request specific books. Staff-selected grab bags based on reading level and preferences are also available.

Across the entire Fairfax County library system, customers demonstrated their hunger for the library's services by checking out 11,000 items from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, the first day of curbside service. For comparison, on the last Monday prior to branch closures in March, when libraries were operating at full capacity, there were about 12,500 checkouts between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Families were among the most excited to see the county's libraries reopen for the pickup of items. At the county's Herndon Fortnightly Library, the Wiley family, for example, visited the library during the first week of curbside service and picked up nearly 100 books that they had put on hold.

At the City of Fairfax Regional Library, as many as 10 employees are back inside the library taking orders for books, delivering books to a pickup cart in the library's garage and answering references calls. Smaller branches in the library system may not have as many employees working but are staying busy as families return to the libraries to pick up children's books and items for summer reading.

"We have been getting a really positive response at Fairfax about it. Everyone who calls expresses how grateful they are," Laura Raymond, branch manager at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, told Patch.

On Monday, the City of Fairfax Regional Library's first customer had 24 items on hold waiting for him when he drove into the library's garage where the library is placing items for pick-up, Raymond said.

When picking up items, customers park in designated areas and call the library branch's phone number posted on a sign. A staff member requests the library card number by phone. Patrons will wait in their vehicles until the items have been placed on the pickup table and library staff return to the building. Books will be packaged in plastic bags.

The City of Fairfax Regional Library is using a cart on which to place items for pickup. Kate Panetti, a librarian at the Fairfax City Regional Library, dressed in a shark costume Thursday as a way to entertain the parents and children as they waited in their cars for her to place their items on the cart.

Panetti borrowed her husband's shark costume, which he had purchased last year during the Washington Nationals' march to World Series victory when the players and fans rallied around Baby Shark, the song used by player Gerardo Parra as his walk-up song.

Library staff members are regularly disinfecting the tables and carts where they are placing the checked-out library items, along with quarantining items when they are returned.

"A lot of the staff have expressed to me the fact that they are very happy to be talking directly to customers on the phone and directly assisting customers again," Raymond said. "Although we have been doing virtual programming and virtual reference chats, it's really nice for staff to get back to a semblance of direct customer service."

When staff members are delivering items to the pickup table, they've also been waving to customers in their cars that they recognize. "That's been fun, too," she said.

Library staff wear face coverings, even underneath their shark costumes, and patrons are encouraged to also wear face coverings.

See a list of library locations here. The Lorton Library is closed for renovations.

SEE ALSO:

• Fairfax County Libraries To Start Curbside Pickup
• Libraries Kick Off Curbside Service In Loudoun, Fairfax