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St. Albert Public Library’s curbside pickup rolling out

The St. Albert Public Library is getting ready to start handing books and other materials back out again. It is set to start up its curbside pickup service at the Jensen Lakes location next week.
2705 Library CC 6418
Starting June 5, the St. Albert Public Library's Jensen Lakes location will introduce curbside pickup service for library materials through an online request form. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

All of those long-held library ‘holds’ can now be accessed. Curbside pickup service is coming to the Jensen Lakes Library starting next week.

“We're all very excited about it and we're hoping our patrons are, too – but not too excited that it overwhelms us. We're taking a fairly measured, phased-in approach to it,” stated St. Albert Public Library CEO Peter Bailey.

That measured approach has been laid out over a two-week period. Patrons can start returning all of their library materials immediately, but only to the main branch of the library in St. Albert Place. All returned materials are quarantined for a minimum of 72 hours in accordance with safety guidelines.

“The community has been asking for curbside pickup, and we are pleased to offer it, now that we can do so in a way that is safe for the community and for library staff.”

From June 1 to 5, patrons can access all of their holds by appointment only through the curbside pickup service at the Jensen Lakes Library. Library staff will contact members as they work through the holds in an orderly fashion.

Starting June 5, the online curbside request pickup form will be made available to all patrons. This service enables customers to request books and other materials from the library’s shelves for safe in-person pickup. After June 8, pickups will begin at the Jensen Lakes Library again by appointment only.

Bailey noted libraries reside within the second phase of the Alberta government’s approach to reopening the province, and those details haven’t been released yet. Even when that time comes, he averred that there would be a measured approach to that as well.

“We're still discussing what that looks like. Maybe it's the kind of curbside pickup within the library: picking up your holds inside the library, maybe some minimal browsing. We're still working on that. Of course, there are a lot of balls in the air on that in terms of what the province is going to allow,” he continued.

“There are a lot of things we haven't been told yet. I don't think anyone really knows what it will look like in great detail today, but we've seen everything changes daily in this situation."

For now, he’s pleased that the library is at least able to start returning into people’s lives with this added – albeit temporary – level of customer service at the city’s branch library.

“Curbside is almost a new service for us. Obviously, we haven't done this level of getting personal shoppers for people ... so it's going to be interesting. We're really glad that we have Jensen Lakes available to us. We're happy we can work up there,” he said.

“Jensen Lakes Library is ideal for curbside pickup, with parking in front of the library doors, space for signage, and good visibility for staff and patrons.”

Full details can be found on the library's website at sapl.ca.


Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ecology and Environment Reporter at the Fitzhugh Newspaper since July 2022 under Local Journalism Initiative funding provided by News Media Canada.
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