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December Service Update

by aadl-news

The AADL resumes contactless pickup service beginning Wednesday, December 9, at noon at all five AADL locations.

Library lobbies will remain open from noon to 8pm seven days a week for contactless pickup service, with contactless locker pickup also an option at four AADL branches.

Due to high numbers of new COVID cases in Washtenaw County, we are making some adjustments to enable service to continue with fewer staff in the buildings at the same time, to decrease the risk of spread among our staff. This means some services will be temporarily suspended in December. We thank you for your patience as we adapt to changing public health conditions, and we look forward to resuming full service as soon as we safely can.

December 2020 Service Updates:

Contactless Pickup Resumes
Beginning Monday, November 30, you'll again be able to schedule pickups for requests that are ready for a pickup to be scheduled. Pickups begin on Wednesday December 9. You can choose lobby or locker pickup if lockers are available at your pickup point. Contactless Printing Service will also resume on December 9.

All items that were on the pickup shelves when we closed on November 15 will be available for pickup until 8pm on December 16. If you received an email to schedule a pickup right before the closure, you can reschedule the pickup on your My Account page starting November 30. Items that are ready to schedule now will expire if not scheduled by December 16.

Lockers Added to Westgate Branch
Pickup lockers have now been added to Westgate Branch as an additional contactless pickup point for materials, joining Malletts Creek, Pittsfield, and Traverwood Branches. When scheduling pickup appointments at any of these branches, select locker pickup to have your items placed in lockers accessible on the outside of the buildings. If your item is not picked up when your locker appointment ends, your items will be moved into the lobby for an additional day before going to the next patron.

Improved Parking Lot Wifi
Throughout December, we're installing new Wifi Access Points in the parking lots at Malletts Creek, Westgate, Traverwood, and Pittsfield branches to make it easier to use our high-speed internet access outside the buildings, 24 hours a day, no login or library card required.

MeLCat Borrowing Suspended
Due to the labor required to process MeLCat loans and returns, we need to suspend MeLCat service for December while we're operating with fewer staff in the building. If you have MeLCat items ready for pickup, or ready for a pickup to be scheduled, you'll be able to pick them up starting December 9. If you have MeLCat items checked out that are due, please return them by the due date. We won't be able to receive new items from the MeLCat network until service resumes, hopefully in January. Watch for updates, and we apologize for this service interruption.

Shelf Service Suspended
Shelf Service requires additional staff in each building, so we need to suspend Shelf Service temporarily. If you had a Shelf Service request pending, we'll be contacting you to ask if you'd like to cancel or get suggestions via email. We're sorry to suspend this popular service, but if you're looking for recommendations in the meantime, feel free to contact us and we can suggest titles you might like to request. Watch for enhancements to this service when it returns!

Summer Game Orders
We still have about 1,700 Summer Game Shop orders to fill. Unfortunately we have to suspend order fulfillment in December to keep staff levels low in the building. If you already have an order ready for a pickup to be scheduled, you can schedule the pickup as of November 30 for dates beginning December 9. If you already scheduled a pickup for your Summer Game order, it will be available for pickup in the lobby indefinitely. We plan to fill the remaining orders in January if we're able to have more staff in the building.

Online Services Continue
All our online services, including eBooks and eAudiobooks, Downloads, AADL.TV, New York Times access, Bookable Zoom Rooms and more remain available anytime.

If you have any questions, please call or text 734-327-4200 or email ask@aadl.org and we can help. We continue to adapt Library service to changing public health conditions, with the goal of minimizing risk to Library patrons and staff. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we look forward to the eventual resumption of full service.

Comments

Yay, thank you for this announcement. Looking forward to your re-opening! Wishing you all health in the meantime.

Will MelCat items which were returned just before the closure get sent back to MelCat before January? I am concerned since the book I had returned was due back on Nov. 19. Thanks - Elizabeth Bishop

Yes, no worries; once you have returned it to AADL (and staff have processed it) it is no longer checked out to you. We are still able to return items to their owning library, but your checkout ends when you return your item to AADL. Does that help? Thanks for asking!

I'm content with whatever AADL needs to do in order to keep everyone safe - now, and in the future.
That's the priority.
However, my heart is gladdened to know that, once again, I can request materials!
Thank you!

Two questions: how big are the lockers that will be available at Westgate branch? That is, how many items can one locker hold at once for pick up? Secondly, is it a bad idea to request items through MeL while this service is not available? I understand that the requests won't be fulfilled for a long time, but does it cause a problem in the system to have the request made while the service is closed (backlog, etc)? Thank you!

Thanks for asking! The pickup lockers at Westgate are the same size as the lockers at Traverwood, enough for several books, but too small for most tools or some of our larger books. And it should be fine to place MeLCat requests for now; but that may stop working as MeLCat finishes putting AADL on pause. Thanks for checking, and thanks for your patience!

I have received a message from Mel that the two books I have checked out from there are overdue and should be returned immediately. According to my AADL account neither of them is due until 12/16. Which account should I believe?
Connie Olson

Thanks for asking. Your AADL due date is the one that counts for you. We can't control the MeLCat messages or update the due dates on their end. While AADL isn't charging any overdue fees currently, only AADL can charge you fees, so you don't need to worry about getting fees from MeLCat passed on to you. It will be a small mess while we're sorting out after the closure and suspension of MeLCat service, but we'll get it squared away and there's no cause for worry about library due dates regardless. Let us know if you have any other questions!

High fives to each of you at AADL, all branches and downtown, too. You all have really made it easy for patrons to check out books (That's all I've done.) throughout the pandemic. My heartfelt thanks, with wishes for a safe and happy holiday/winter.

Yes, all items ready for pickup in the lobby have a second day automatically as a grace period. This doesn't involve additional risk or require additional staff so we're able to continue this while services are temporarily reduced. Thanks for checking!

Hi there, yes! We are sending out Sewing Machines. There are a lot of requests and we have limited staff available, but they are moving! Thanks for your patience.

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