PETERSBURG, Ky. — The doors at the Chapin Memorial Library have been locked since last spring, but the Boone County Public Library said it'll reopen Oct. 30 — library operations won't be completely back to normal, though.
Since its closure in 2022, community members have been speaking out about how important they feel the public library is to their community. They said Petersburg is a tight-knit community that needs these resources.
"There are families living down here without electricity, without water. Multiple generations living in one house, children that don't have bedrooms, let alone a desk to study at," Debbie Dutton Lambert said.
Rosemary Maston agreed and said kids really benefit from the public library.
"I know that a lot of these kids get off the school bus, they do come here. They come here to do their homework," Maston said. "They don't necessarily have computers at their home."
The Boone County Public Library said it had to close the location because of staffing issues. After the two part-time employees working at the location left, Carrie Herrmann, the library's executive director, said she couldn't replace them.
Herrmann said they couldn't get qualified applicants. The position requires a high school diploma or GED, three years of significant experience in library work or another related field and computer and internet proficiency, she said.
“Like every other employer out there, we were having and we’re still having issues staffing all of our locations, so pulling the staff to send down to Petersburg was putting a strain on the other locations," she said. “We are pretty passionate about being able to serve in some capacity to this particular community.”
Herrmann and her staff have come up with a solution that doesn't require staff on site.
Starting Oct. 30, there will be card scanners outside the doors so library patrons can scan their library card and get into the building, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Herrmann said there will also be two computers available and a locker system to check out books.
To use the locker system, people can pick out books through the library website.
“With your library card you put it on hold and it will be delivered down to the locker. You’ll get a notification, the item has been delivered there,” Herrmann said.
Then people can use their library card to get into the building and get their book from the locker system.
To some community members, this isn't the right solution.
“If a person is not — computer literate or is not able to explain their situation, it’s going to be very difficult for a person out at the Burlington location to answer those questions," Maston said.
Additionally, she and other community members said many people don't have internet or computer access at home.
These community members started a petition and letter-writing campaign to get the library fully staffed and back open.
Herrmann said she wants to try out this solution for six months before making any decisions about changes that need to be made.
