A Message from the Executive Director

**UPDATED May 11
In these sobering days I wanted to share some good news about how hard the library staff is working—mostly from home—to continue to be a reliable provider of the resources you depend on from your library. Though the library is closed to public and all public programs have been suspended **until further notice, we are offering as many library services as we can while still protecting public health and following CDC guidelines.

Browse thousands of e-books and audiobooks with Overdrive and RBdigital. Music lovers can use Freegal to download up to five songs per week or stream unlimited music. You can also research your family tree using Ancestry Library Edition. Read magazines and newspapers from around the country and the world. Plus, limited curbside service is available at all branch libraries, with the exception of Brooks Library in Wrightsville. Services include holds pickup, new checkouts, and limited mobile printing, **Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition, we’ll continue working with our partners to provide meals for children while schools are closed. Since March 14, more than 20,000 COVID response meals have been served at our branches.

The CALS Student Portal gives students and parents access to our vast digital collection with resources sorted by grade for your convenience. Hoonuit offers online how-to training on hundreds of common software applications and devices, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Docs, and iPad. The Great Courses Library Collection features complete video courses on subjects including science, cooking, history, photography and art, finance and investing, philosophy, gardening, and much more.

These are trying times. People are rightly anxious about their families and livelihoods. There are practical concerns: finding ways to keep up a productive and familiar routine while working from home, learning how to use videoconferencing software to conduct virtual office meetings, and deciding how much of the grim daily news to consume to stay informed but not feel overwhelmed. I’m impressed with all the varied ways people are finding for coping. We hope the library can be a small but valuable part of these efforts.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard came from a virtual Rotary Club session earlier this week. Ken Clark, a local counselor, told the hundred plus people viewing the meeting on Zoom that the human mind cannot focus on fear and gratitude simultaneously. Trying to find small things every day to be grateful about would crowd out darker thoughts in this crisis.

As you might expect from someone at the library, I’m curious about what books people are grateful for having read, as we wrestle with all that this crisis hurls at us. My friends have pointed to histories, like Rick Atkinson’s three works about the Allies liberation of Europe in WWII, and the comic relief afforded by Bill Bryon’s wicked humor. Another was grateful for the escapist fiction of Dorothy Sayers’ mysteries. And there was the comfort of good how-to reads about gardening and cooking. I’ll post others soon. If you want to share yours, please email us at calsinfo@cals.org.

If you don’t have a library card to access these services, please complete the online application. Remember due dates have been extended, so you don’t need to worry about accruing fines or returning materials.

I’m grateful for all of you who have entrusted to the staff and me the care of your library. We will continue working to keep it accessible for you during the COVID-19 crisis.

Nate Coulter
CALS Executive Director