School library to resume curbside service after governor's shut down is lifted

Posted November 2020

By Narden Ishak

Staff Reporter

As an alternative to visiting the school library during CDL, the high school will resume a mini-library curbside checkout service on Mondays from 12-1 p.m. in the south breezeway when the governor's shut down is lifted.

DD Mini Library Monday's had to discontinue on Nov. 16 until further notice when Governor Brown instigated a four-week Covid freeze on Multnomah County. Grab & Go Meal Distribution will continue and students can still hold books through the library's catalog and pick them up from the HS north office.

Once DD Mini Library Monday's reopens, students will be able to email a hold request to the school librarian by Thursday of each week. If the book is available, it will be ready for pickup at Grab & Go meal distribution drive-through at the south breezeway the next Monday. Students do not have to place a hold. They can pull up to browse and pick up what they like. Books from all genres and for all age groups are available. Students can also use the library's catalog to look up book titles, place holds, and pick up the books at the North HS office after receiving an email that the hold is ready. There's a two week checkout time, but the hold can be renewed up to four times using the library's catalog.

“I am happy to come to classes to demonstrate use or arrange group or individual GMeets with students who need help with any aspects of the research process,” said school librarian Jennifer DiFrancis.

Students can have unlimited and free access to ebooks and audiobooks through logging in with their students account on Sora, an app for modern student reading that's accessible on phones, tablets, laptops, and school chromebooks. Students can also go to the Multnomah County web page, find the library connect under the resources tab, choose their school, and log in using number 40 before their student ID and their birthdate as the password. That gives students free and unlimited access to ebooks, audiobooks, and all resources through Multnomah County libraries. If students already have a library card, they can call or email the library to reset their password so they can create their own with the library connect.

“I hope to get kids and books back together," said DiFrances. "I am so happy to be the school’s librarian, but it's so sad to be sitting in a room full of books with no students.”

Multnomah County Library began no contact sidewalk service at select locations on June 8. The library started allowing patrons to drop off items and pick up reserved materials at their Central, Gresham, Midland, and North Portland locations. The list was expanded on June 15 to offer services at Belmont, Capitol Hill, Gregory Heights, Holgate, Hollywood, Kenton, Rockwood and St. John's libraries.

"As humans we seek interaction," said DiFrances. "We’re limited in the places we can go right now, so a book can take you anywhere."

The county sidewalk service will be provided by appointment only, and there will be no public access to the buildings. The library will offer 12 appointments per hour at each location. Appointments can be booked by calling 503-988-5123.

“The health and safety of library patrons and staff is our priority above all," stated Director of Libraries Vailey Oehlke. "We will expand service in limited ways over time in keeping with science and public health guidance. If your local branch takes more time to reopen or you’re missing another treasured library service, please know that this is a new process for all of us. Thank you for your patience and kindness as we all learn and adjust.”