As COVID-19 cases surge throughout the Bay Area, the City of Santa Clara has announced new closures. The City’s Northside and Mission Branch Libraries will close temporarily and the Central Park Library will adjust its hours of operation temporarily.
According to a City news release, the increase in COVID-19 cases is impacting City library staffing levels.
“To keep our community and employees safe from the increasing positivity rate of the COVID-19 variants, modifications to library services will be implemented beginning the week of Jan. 24, 2022,” read the release.
On Monday, all library facilities will be closed to the public. City staff will use the day to reconfigure the Central Park Library for lobby service.
The next day, on Jan. 25, the Central Park Library will be open for limited services. This includes hold pick-ups, some book browsing, computer printing and copying.
The new temporary Central Park Library hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The City will close both the Northside and Mission Branches until further notice. All holds currently at the Northside and Mission Branch Libraries will be moved to the Central Park Library for pick up.
Bookmobile services will also pause until further notice.
You can still drop your books off at all library locations and eBooks and audiobooks are accessible online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.sclibrary.org.
The Foundation of Friends of the Library Bookstore will close starting today through at least Feb. 3, 2022.
The library closures and hour adjustments are just the latest move by the City because of the increase in COVID-19 variants.
Earlier in January, the City closed Santa Clara City Hall and the lobbies of the Police and Fire Departments to help stop the spread of COVID. City staff is updating details on those closures weekly. Changes are based on the current COVID-19 data submitted by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.