Stone County Library Receives Grant For Hold Lockers
July 22, 2020
Isaac Estes-Jones
Patrons of the Stone County Library will have a new, contactless pick up option later this year thanks to a grant from the Missouri State Library. The $18,000 grant is going toward a set of hold lockers to be located in Reeds Spring City Hall.
“The lockers will allow patrons in that part of the county to place a hold request either online or by calling into the library. Once the library has those items in hand, they will be shifted to the lockers if requested and the patron will get a notification their items are ready to be checked out. At the locker, they will scan their library card, it will open up and those items will automatically be checked out to the patron,” said Rebecca Payne, director of the Stone County Library System.
The grant funds came through the Missouri State Library, which is run through the office of the Missouri Secretary of State. “The state library got a chunk of funding from the CARES Act [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act] and made them available to help with coronavirus relief and contactless services,” Payne said.
The library decided to locate the lockers in Reeds Spring City Hall to help with access for patrons in that region, especially library users over the age of 60 who are at a higher risk should the contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. “Because Stone County is so rural and some people can have transportation issues, we wanted to locate these lockers somewhere where those patrons can more easily get to them. It seemed like the best place to try this out,” Payne continued.
“Hold lockers are something a lot of larger libraries do,” she said. “But those are usually at their buildings so people can get their items at whatever time. But we wanted to try something different to help out our patrons. We are excited to get them set up and see how they work out for us,” she said.
The Secretary of State announced the awards to the public on Monday, July 17. The library has already ordered the hold lockers and will have to wait for them to be produced.
“I’ve already placed the order, so we just have to wait for them to be manufactured. The turn around time is usually around 45 days, depending on any issues the manufacturing company might have. So we are hopeful to have these up and running sometime in September. Once they are here, it’s just a matter of setting them up, hooking them to the internet and plugging them into power. They integrate with the online reservation system we already have in place,” Payne said. There will be a total of 12 hold lockers at Reeds Spring City Hall.
“Starting out patrons who wish to use the holds locker will need to call us to set it up, after that it will default to that location,” Payne said.
According to a press release from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, “the Missouri State Library received $554,569 in CARES funds and reallocated other grant funds to contribute an additional $432,800 in FY2020 LSTA funds for a total availability of $987,369 for coronavirus relief projects. The State Library has awarded $960,338 in coronavirus relief funding to 60 libraries.” Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funds and Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds are used to address digital inclusion and related technical support or to address other efforts that prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19.
In addition to the $18,000 granted to the Stone County Library, other area libraries also received funds to help continue services during COVID. The Barry-Lawrence Library received $25,066 to set up and start a hotspot lending program for patrons and also to obtain/improve technology for the library to provide higher quality online programming. The Christian County Library was allocated $29,387 to “expand the strength and speed of its Wi-Fi signal at the Ozark branch, double the number of hotspots available to patrons for checkout, obtain technology to improve virtual programs, and obtain technology for staff to use for virtual and remote work.” This is partial funding for their Project D.I.V.E (Digital Inclusion through Virtual Engagement) proposal.
Patrons of the Stone County Library will have a new, contactless pick up option later this year thanks to a grant from the Missouri State Library. The $18,000 grant is going toward a set of hold lockers to be located in Reeds Spring City Hall.
“The lockers will allow patrons in that part of the county to place a hold request either online or by calling into the library. Once the library has those items in hand, they will be shifted to the lockers if requested and the patron will get a notification their items are ready to be checked out. At the locker, they will scan their library card, it will open up and those items will automatically be checked out to the patron,” said Rebecca Payne, director of the Stone County Library System.
The grant funds came through the Missouri State Library, which is run through the office of the Missouri Secretary of State. “The state library got a chunk of funding from the CARES Act [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act] and made them available to help with coronavirus relief and contactless services,” Payne said.
The library decided to locate the lockers in Reeds Spring City Hall to help with access for patrons in that region, especially library users over the age of 60 who are at a higher risk should the contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. “Because Stone County is so rural and some people can have transportation issues, we wanted to locate these lockers somewhere where those patrons can more easily get to them. It seemed like the best place to try this out,” Payne continued.
“Hold lockers are something a lot of larger libraries do,” she said. “But those are usually at their buildings so people can get their items at whatever time. But we wanted to try something different to help out our patrons. We are excited to get them set up and see how they work out for us,” she said.
The Secretary of State announced the awards to the public on Monday, July 17. The library has already ordered the hold lockers and will have to wait for them to be produced.
“I’ve already placed the order, so we just have to wait for them to be manufactured. The turn around time is usually around 45 days, depending on any issues the manufacturing company might have. So we are hopeful to have these up and running sometime in September. Once they are here, it’s just a matter of setting them up, hooking them to the internet and plugging them into power. They integrate with the online reservation system we already have in place,” Payne said. There will be a total of 12 hold lockers at Reeds Spring City Hall.
“Starting out patrons who wish to use the holds locker will need to call us to set it up, after that it will default to that location,” Payne said.
According to a press release from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, “the Missouri State Library received $554,569 in CARES funds and reallocated other grant funds to contribute an additional $432,800 in FY2020 LSTA funds for a total availability of $987,369 for coronavirus relief projects. The State Library has awarded $960,338 in coronavirus relief funding to 60 libraries.” Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funds and Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds are used to address digital inclusion and related technical support or to address other efforts that prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19.
In addition to the $18,000 granted to the Stone County Library, other area libraries also received funds to help continue services during COVID. The Barry-Lawrence Library received $25,066 to set up and start a hotspot lending program for patrons and also to obtain/improve technology for the library to provide higher quality online programming. The Christian County Library was allocated $29,387 to “expand the strength and speed of its Wi-Fi signal at the Ozark branch, double the number of hotspots available to patrons for checkout, obtain technology to improve virtual programs, and obtain technology for staff to use for virtual and remote work.” This is partial funding for their Project D.I.V.E (Digital Inclusion through Virtual Engagement) proposal.