East Adams Library District adjusting to keep programs going behind closed doors

RITZVILLE — Empty aisles of books and quiet hallways have become the new normal for East Adams Library District employees at the Ritzville Public Library. Like many organizations in the area, the library district has had to get creative in changing up the services and programs it offers as a result of the current pandemic.

District Director Kylie Fullmer said the staff really wasn’t allowed back in the building until Adams County reached Phase 2 in early June.

“It took kind of the rest of March and early April to find out how we’d turn what we had been doing for programs into something online,” Fullmer said.

Fullmer said she and other district employees have had to find ways to shift the programs they offer, such as book clubs and kids programs, to a virtual platform. In addition, the library staff has offered curbside pickup for books, “grab-and-go bags” and craft bags for anyone to pick up for free.

With the curbside pickup, Fullmer said she feel confident in continuing to serve the community while still remaining safe.

“Doing that in a socially distant way, everybody’s safe, the staff and the patrons,” Fullmer said. “Then, we’re also trying to encourage people to take advantage of our online resources. We have an e-book catalog, online classes, just different things like that.”

Word-of-mouth over the last few months about the curbside pickup has brought back a lot of people, especially the regulars, Fullmer said. The craft bags for the kids programs have been especially popular, she added.

“Each week we do kind of a different activity, with everything from pipe cleaner rings to making fairy gardens,” Fullmer said. “Just little crafts to keep them engaged, and it’s all funded by donations we’ve had over the years. We’re able to use that money.”

While some programs the East Adams Library District offered in the past can’t really be replicated online, such as movie showings, Fullmer said the library has been able to add some new programs. One new program that has been popular is the weekly trivia night, an idea she said the staff had tossed around for a while.

“We had always talked about partnering with a local bar to do a trivia night and just hadn’t had the time to do it,” Fullmer said. “With being closed and everything, one of the staff was able to kind of put it together, so we do a weekly Facebook Live trivia night that is really popular.”

The trivia night event brings in people they don’t even typically see at the library, Fullmer said.

While the staff members were a little hesitant to jump in front of the camera for their Facebook Live videos, she said everyone warmed up to the process once they saw the positive feedback coming in.

Facebook Live videos for weekly programs like the Page Turners Book Club and preschool story time don’t necessarily draw a lot of views when they’re live but pick up views within the first 24 hours they’re posted, Fullmer said. She said it’s nice to have something people can come to on their own schedule.

“It’s really something we’ll probably continue to do even after the public is allowed to come back in and we’re allowed to restart programs,” Fullmer said. “We’ll probably continue to do something online just because we are able to reach people that, for whatever reason, aren’t able to make it to the library.”

Millie Hopkins is the Youth Services Library Assistant with East Adams Library District and has been instrumental in shifting the library’s youth programs online. She said the shift has been a challenge, but said it’s become easier with time.

Hopkins said they dealt with a lot of “screen fatigue” at first, with kids transitioning out of doing school online.

“We tried doing Zoom stuff, but it wasn’t something they were interested in because they were doing it all the time,” Hopkins said.

As a part of smaller community like Ritzville, Hopkins said she believes it’s very important for them and help keep kids entertained, occupied, especially with the local pool closed.

“In the summer here, kids live at the pool,” Hopkins said. “The pool is very important, and it’s closed. It’s been, I’m sure, difficult for the kids. So that’s why we tried to provide what we can to keep them entertained, always suggesting activities.”

Hopkins said it’s nice hearing the positive feedback from the community. She said she hears compliments from Fullmer’s meetings with other librarians in the state who are impressed with the amount of programming the Ritzville staff has been able to pull off, rivaling some of the bigger libraries in Washington.

“For me, it’s just what I normally do,” Hopkins said. “It’s just online now.”

Working with youth services, Hopkins said she misses having the kids around all day like she normally would. “That was my job, I got to play with kids all day,” Hopkins said. “Now, I just talk to myself in the camera, and it’s not nearly as much fun.”

East Adams Library District hosted a socially-distanced ice cream event for kids last Thursday to mark their annual “end of summer” party. With all of the restrictions in place, Kylie Fullmer said she wanted to ensure they could have something to offer in light of their usual event not being possible.

“It went really well,” Fullmer said. “It was fewer kids than we were expecting. We didn’t know what to expect with everything going on.”

Around 30 kids came out for the free ice cream, with a small obstacle course in chalk set up as well on the sidewalk for the kids. Seeing the kids for the first time in a while was great for the staff, Fullmer said.

“It was great to see everybody,” Fullmer said. “A little bit smaller than our typical parties, but I think everyone still had a good time.”

Fullmer said she’s not used to the quiet around the library the past few months, and admitted it is not typically a “quiet library.” She said she worries about some of the patrons the staff hasn’t seen in a while, and just hopes everyone is doing well.

The adjustment this summer, she said, has been stressful at times.

“It’s not always easy having to completely shift how you run your business,” Fullmer said. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of positives coming out of it, a lot of ways that are making us think how we’ll deliver our programs and services in the future. I think it will make it more accessible for people.”

While she said she doesn’t enjoy searching for the silver lining for everything going on, she said she’s confident the adjustments will only help moving forward.

Casey McCarthy can be reached via email at cmcarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.