Although Humboldt is cooped up inside, for the most part, that doesn’t mean the Humboldt County Library is out of commission. In fact, since the libraries have physically closed to the public, staff have been upping their game when it comes to electronic resources and other services. 

Nick Wilczek is the library director for Humboldt County, and he told the Outpost he’s been focusing resources to redesign the library’s website to make it easier for patrons to find the services available and for them to sign up for an “e-access” account. 

Nick Wilczek

“We want folks to know that we are still here, if we can help them with anything.” Wilczek said, adding that staff is on site Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “So if there is any reference or research help you need, or you just want to know what is going on at the library, you can get in touch with a person really easily.”

In order to access the libraries’ services, the public will need either a library card or to sign up for the e-access accounts on the website. Since the beginning of April, 155 people have signed up for new accounts with the library.

Wilczek said e-books have taken off in popularity at the library during the COVID days. He said the library provided about 5,600 digital rentals during the month of March and those numbers have gone up dramatically this month.

“So far in April, [digital rentals] are up to 7,900,” Wilczek said. “So that is a 40 percent increase in less than a month in e-book usage.” 

Other digital resources the libraries offer include pretty much everything they do in-person — magazines, material for all age-groups, books, graphic novels — with the exception of movie rentals, but Wilczek said they are working on that. 

Some of the kiddos out there in Humboldt may be missing some story time with their favorite librarians and their fellow tots. But don’t fret: The Arcata Library has been hosting Zoom story times. Sue Parsons is the manager of the Arcata Library and has been hosting “Story Time with Ms. Sue and Friends” two days a week — Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11 a.m. 

“Anybody who wants to register for them has to register by Tuesday morning for the Wednesday story time and Friday morning for Saturday,” Parsons told the Outpost. “So that we can get everybody in the room.” 

The Eureka Library is starting to host their own story times starting next week on Fridays at 1 p.m. with Ms. Jeanine, Parsons added. The story times have been going on for the past few weeks and they are growing in popularity. At the first story time there were 15 viewers and 25 at the second reading, Parsons said. She also said that the pandemic is not going to stop librarians from providing their services for the little ones. 

“It is really important for librarians, who have had a historic role in providing story times, that we continue to find a way to provide it now,” Parsons said.

The library is also hosting three book clubs called: “Reading in Place,” “A Novel Idea Book Group” for adults, and “The Young Adult Book Group” for teens. Some of May’s books of discussion will be The Call of the Wild by Jack London and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

There is no set date for the libraries to begin opening up to the public, but Wilczek said users should expect to see some changes in order to comply with social distancing recommendations stressing that public and staff safety will be one of their biggest concerns.

“Computers will be six feet apart, we will try and set up markings on the floor for where people need to wait in line, those sorts of things,” Wilczek said. “We will be taking steps to make sure people are keeping safe distances and that the public and staff are safe.” 

For now, the libraries will not be offering any WiFi hotspot rentals. However WiFi services are still available at the libraries Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wilczek said there have been no layoffs at any of the libraries and that if the public needs help, feel free to give them a call. 

“We are still here working for the community, providing services,” Wilczek said. “There are still ways to read, there are still ways to get together with other folks online to talk about books and we are here and doing what we can.”

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If you want to sign up for the story times, call 707-822-5954. And here is a link to the Humboldt County Library’s website.