I hate to make this announcement, because, as a rule, we appreciate the generous book donations we get here. PLEASE HANG ONTO YOUR DONATIONS FOR NOW. I can appreciate that a lot of folks are taking this time to clean house and get rid of things, but we don't have space for them, and we don't want to have to clean and quarantine them -- and just dropping them off outside the building or leaving them in the book deposit slot isn't helpful. Thank you.

UPDATE: The library is re-opening, but – for the safety of the staff and the patrons – it’s going to be a step-by-step process. As of today, May 27th, we are open for limited services – basically just checking out books and other materials. We’ll be very glad to see our friends come back, but there are going to be a few rules in place for a time.

• We’ll be open for service from 10:00 – 2:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to begin.

• Porch Pickup will still be in operation – you can still reserve books for pickup in the library vestibule. Reserves can be placed through the PINES hold process, or you can phone in requests, or e-mail us at hartlibrarynews@yahoo.com.

• Only 6 patrons will be allowed in at a time, for 15-20 minutes for browsing and checkout.

• Masks and social distancing are required.

• The public computers will not be available quite yet, but we can do printouts for you – e-mail your document(s) to hartlibrarynews@yahoo.com and include your name and phone number. We’ll call you when the printouts are available to be picked up. (We’re sorry, but we will not be doing faxes and photocopies at this time.)

• Please continue to return books in the book deposit slot – even when we’re open. Books will be cleaned and then isolated for 72 hours before being returned to the shelves, so some books may not be available for checkout immediately.

• If you have any questions, please call us at (706) 376-4655.

UPDATE: Our "Porch Pickup" service has begun. Staff will be on hand for this service on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. You can put books on hold through the PINES app, or call us at (706) 376-4655 to request a book (or books) or other materials. The library building is still closed, but you tell us when you can pick the books up and we'll check them out to you and have them waiting in the library vestibule for you to stop by.

REMINDER: We're hoping to expand to having the building open -- in a limited way -- beginning May 27th. We'll be posting details soon. I can confirm that -- for the safety of the staff and you and your fellow patrons -- we'll be limiting the number of people allowed in the building at one time, and masks will be required. Thanks for your patience!

UPDATE: It's been pointed out that Monday, May 25th, is Memorial Day. The library will be closed in observance of this holiday.

NOTE: We are not currently able to provide document services (COPIES, FAXES, OR COMPUTER PRINTOUTS). The Ingles grocery store has a faxing service; Royal Graphics on Forest Avenue makes copies; and we're working on a method to provide some printout services.

And we're sorry, but we cannot make our meeting rooms available for the time being.

Thank you for being patient -- we're trying to do what we can while providing maximum safety to the library staff and patrons.