Bartholomew County library branches closing

From: Jason Hatton, director, of the Bartholomew County Public Library

With lots of discussion and the guidance from the city, other entities, and state/federal officials, the Bartholomew County Public Library has made the decision to close all locations and bookmobile services to the public as of Monday, March 16 at 1 p.m. As already announced, all library programming has also been cancelled.

We are closing to protect the health of our staff and our patrons and it is a decision that we have not made lightly. While we provide an essential service to many patrons, we feel that by closing we will hopefully stop the spread of this virus sooner. Presently, we plan to reopen with normal hours and services on Monday, April 6 - but we will continue to assess the situation to determine if a longer closure is warranted. During this time, we will be updating our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to share information with patrons, including updates on our closure and tips for making the most of online Library resources.

We also encourage you to visit mybcpl.org to explore books, movies, research tools, and more to download and stream. Take this opportunity to explore the tens of thousands of resources available to you from home with your library card. If you need assistance, please email [email protected] if you have questions or need some help troubleshooting.

We will also be working to provide some virtual programming throughout the closure as well as sharing the great resources being made available by others. Don't worry about things like overdue books or returning items - any physical materials currently checked out will have their due dates extended until we reopen. And any holds that were placed will be waiting for you to pick up when we reopen. We hope you understand that to interrupt our mission of providing access to people, ideas, information, and experiences is something we do only because we feel we have no other choice.

Please stay safe, monitor your health, follow guidelines recommended by the Center for Disease Control, and check for updates at the Indiana State Department of Health website. We look forward to seeing you again when we reopen, and in the meantime, please take care of yourself and those around you.