Director’s Letter

August 2020 Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey regarding the Library’s reopening plans during the pandemic. We received over 1,200 responses and over 36 pages of comments. The results showed that approximately 60% of responses preferred visiting the library in person and 40% preferred to continue receiving deliveries. Because we know there are diverse needs throughout our community, we know that moving forward we need to find a balance in how we provide services. Currently we are working towards all locations in our system being open for walk-up service while continuing to offer delivery services or a contactless holds pickup option to all of our patrons. Right now, our branch locations in Alsea and Monroe are both open for walk-up services. This means we have a new service point near a building entrance where we can assist you with whatever library needs you may have: picking up your holds, retrieval of items in the collection, book bundles, limited browsing, and free printing, for example. We plan to begin offering walkup service in Corvallis in mid-August and in Philomath in September. We have been offering computer use sessions by appointment only at our Corvallis location and will soon be increasing the number of appointments offered and making drop-in computer sessions available. Computer sessions are also available at our open branches in Alsea and Monroe. As a reminder, you can return your items to any library location. We are also happy to make arrangements with anyone who needs assistance in returning items – just give us a call or email us. Thank you for your continued support of our safe reopening! Best, Ashlee Chavez Director, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library [Read more]

July 1, 2020 Dear Community, I am excited to share some fantastic news with you. As of July 1, the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library has joined many other libraries around the nation in becoming a fine free library! We have been fine free for juvenile materials since 2017 but now we will no longer charge any late fines for overdue materials. While we will still charge for lost and damaged items, we believe this policy change will create a new level of equity and access for the community. It gives me great pleasure to say that every cardholder is starting with a clean slate and a second chance at using the library. Last year, the American Library Association passed a Resolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social Inequity. In that resolution, all libraries were urged to “take determined and pragmatic action to dismantle practices of collecting monetary fines.” Further, the resolution states: “fines ultimately do not serve the core mission of the modern library.” We believe that right now, more than ever, there is a growing divide in our community when it comes to access and resources. Eliminating fines is the best next step the library can take to advancing equity in our community. To read more about this change, you can visit our FAQs about being fine free. Best, Ashlee Chavez Director, Corvallis-Benton County Public Library Return to all Letters from the Library Director Access the CBCPL monthly newsletter