The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS), faced with a pandemic shutdown, has responded with an array of innovative offerings, including virtual programming and curbside service. Far from being limiting, these virtual choices have instead increased community outreach in a dramatic way, with many potentially continuing when the libraries are able to fully reopen. On Monday, November 2, PGCMLS North Area Manager Luis Labra shared these prospects with the Greenbelt City Council at a worksession. Said Labra, while he wished that it didn’t take a pandemic to learn these new lessons, “We’ve taken full advantage of the opportunity.”
In the past, while in-person children’s programs might expect 35 to 40 attendees, the virtual ones now host 300 to 400, with pre-recorded programs receiving thousands of watchers.
The Greenbelt Library is an “extremely busy site,” said Labra, standing third in circulation and first in curbside service, with residents, he noted, being “very satisfied with the service.” This was reemphasized by Councilmember Emmett Jordan, who said that Greenbelters “love our Library,” and that it is “really important to the community.” Recently, the Library building reached its 50th anniversary, which the city would like to celebrate at a later reopening.
Full staff have returned to the branches, working on an alternate schedule due to social distancing, with staff using their off-site days to prepare recorded programs.
Labra revealed highlights of the system’s new strategic plan for 2021 to 2024. Programming will be a combination of virtual and on-site. One can expect diversity programs, such as one hosted by the Prince George’s County Heritage Project, which will celebrate the multiplicity of cultures in the county. Teens and young adults are to be offered programs like a Dream Lab and a kick-start series, which will assist in career advice and strategies. The arts will be a central focus, with the aim of making local branch libraries into community hubs for visual and performing arts. Labra would like to see the Greenbelt Library offer a gallery for local artists. Councilmember Judith Davis urged Labra to make use of Greenbelt’s art community, like Arts Supervisor Nicole DeWald, to aid in this endeavor.
Council was keen on the importance of maintaining the Library’s Tugwell Room, which houses documents and resources concerning the city’s entire history. Closed now due to the pandemic, Labra reported that before this, the system was hoping to hire an archivist to oversee it. Council hoped that the Library would continue to honor the existing MOU with the city, creating a partnership that would best preserve the contents. The Greenbelt Museum was suggested by council as a key resource.
Resident Konrad Herling brought up the “digital divide” that exists, mostly with seniors, concerning the frequent lack of effective understanding of computer and internet use. Labra said that the Library houses around 40 computers and that in the past the system has offered classes on this subject, and expects to continue that in later reopening phases.
Jordan said that this was “a dynamic time for libraries,” citing the increase in digital collections of books and periodicals. Labra said that there was “a fine line,” based on usage, in determining when to transfer materials to the digital format, saying that there was still a “robust collection” of physical copies.
Labra said that the PGCMLS is a national leader in this new virtual programming. He said that a Phase Two limited reopening would probably occur in the new year with no firm date. He closed the meeting by saying, “Greenbelt loves its Library. That message has gotten through.”