A letter from Saugus Public Library Director, Alan Thibeault:

It has been a long thirteen weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to close the doors to the Saugus Public Library. Many of you have lost friends and loved ones to this awful pandemic and we all share your grief and sorrow.

The staff and I sincerely miss the “old normal” when we were open to the public and patrons could simply walk into our building to borrow items; use our public computers or WiFi signal; sit and read magazines and newspapers; and attend the programs and meetings we’ve traditionally hosted.

While the Library has been closed to the public our staff has cleaned up and reorganized our collections, rearranged some of our spaces, and learned some new skills which will enable us to serve you better. We’ve also begun to offer virtual programs (yoga, meditation, and virtual Music & Mother Goose) via Zoom. Patrons have been participating in these programs and making heavy use of our OverDrive and Hoopla accounts to borrow digital and streaming media like eBooks, eAudiobooks, movies, television shows, and magazines. We will continue to develop and offer new virtual offerings too.

These remain very unpredictable times. I cannot say when we will be able to welcome you all back into the building. But we continue to formulate plans to do so. 

Meanwhile, we are refining a plan to begin a new service, Front Door Pickup. This new service will allow patrons to place holds on books, movies, music CDs, etc. and schedule pickup times at our Central Street entrance. We are nearly finished and equipped to do this in an efficient and easy-to-use way. Our main concern in starting this new service is safety; for both our staff and for the public. Our hope is to be able to offer Front Door Pickup by the beginning of July, perhaps sooner if all the pieces fall into place. 

Look for more details soon on our website, https://www.sauguspubliclibrary.org and on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Please follow us on social media if you don’t already do so. We’ll also provide information to Saugus Cable Access TV, the Saugus Advertiser and Saugus Advocate.

I hope you all remain safe and well. We look forward to being able to fully restore library services to the Town of Saugus. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Alan Thibeault

Director, Saugus Public Library