Fulton Public Library Reopens In-Person Services Today

FULTON – Beginning today, Monday, May 3, patrons may once again peruse the shelves of the Fulton Public Library.

The library, which has been closed to in-person services for several months due to the pandemic, is reopening its doors to the public and will resume these services, including picking out books and other items available for loans and computer use.

The library will also be continuing its practices from throughout the pandemic, such as curbside pickup (checking out items, printing/copying/faxing) until further notice and virtual programming. In-house programming is still paused until further notice.

As for COVID-19 protocols, there will be a maximum of 10 people allowed in at a time for 30 minutes at most if possible, signing in will be required for contact tracing purposes, and face masks and social distancing are required. More information on COVID-19 protocols can be found here.

“It’s going to be very much like a normal library visit,” Library Director Caroline Chatterton said. “All of the floors are going to be open, so the children’s room will be available, which I know is exciting for parents, because that’s been one of the challenging things about curbside pickup, is that parents like for their kids to be able to browse and pick out their own books.”

When looking through the library’s available items, the staff does ask that if someone picks up an item but decides not to borrow it, to place it on a designated cart to be sanitized rather than putting it back on the shelf.

For computer use, there will be two or three computers available for 45-minute appointments.

“We know a lot of people are eager to get stuff taken care of on the computer, print stuff, so we want to make sure that everybody that needs it has a chance with our limited computer numbers,” Chatterton said.

While patrons were unable to use the library’s computers while in-person services were closed, the library does offer WiFi hotspots to loan out and they expanded their WiFi to reach the parking lot with no password so anyone in the community could use it regardless if they had a library card or not.

“We have 15 mobile hotspots that are available for checkout for patrons, and those are a 30-day loan,” Chatterton said. “We’ve had patrons that were really happy, especially when school went virtual because they had kids that needed to get on for school.”

In addition to in-person checkouts, there will be a self-checkout machine available as well for those who wish to limit interaction.

Throughout the pandemic, the library has not been charging late fees, and according to Chatterton, the library’s Board of Trustees has voted to make this indefinite.

While in-person circulation was paused, Chatterton said the library’s electronic usage increased as patrons were borrowing materials online. She also said before the pandemic, around 150 people would typically visit the library on a busy day, and during the pandemic they have had a steady 20 to 30 curbside pickups on a regular day.

Moving forward, Chatterton said she would like to keep the library’s virtual programming, which has included story time and family fitness videos, because they are reaching members of the community who may not otherwise be able to make it to in-person programming.

The library is planning to have a summer reading program and any events with that will be outside.

There will also be a chicken barbeque fundraiser on June 5 beginning at 11 a.m. until the meals are sold out. The fundraiser will be located at Bullhead Point in Fulton. Pre-sale tickets will be made available beginning May 5. The library will also raffle off some book baskets. More information will be available on the library’s website on May 5.

The library’s hours are as follows:

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