New Castle County Announces Library Reopening Plan

New Castle County announced yesterday that the County’s comprehensive strategy for the re-opening of the county’s 15 libraries. The strategy will carefully follow county, state, and federal health guidelines as well as best practices established by national library organizations. Select libraries will open on Monday, April 12.

“We are very excited to re-open library doors to our guests,” said County Executive Matt Meyer. “It’s been a long year without our libraries, and I am so proud of the ways our libraries and librarians have continued to serve our public throughout the pandemic, and now it’s time to welcome them back.”

Select in-person services will be available two and half days a week per branch. The schedule for each branch is posted below. People will be able to browse the New Materials collection, checkout materials, place and pick up holds, and register for library cards. Libraries will also offer public computer and printer use with a focus on adults who may be lacking Internet access. As a result of limited building capacity and computer spacing needs, users are encouraged to call their local library Monday through Saturday to schedule an appointment in advance. Computer appointments will be scheduled in 45-minute intervals to allow for cleaning between patron sessions. During this re-opening stage, in-person programs will not be held in libraries and meeting rooms and study rooms will not be available to the public for reservation.

“We’re very much looking forward to returning to serve our customers inside our buildings,” said Marcus Henry, general manager of New Castle’s General Services department. “We’re making safety for our staff and guests a top priority so we can continue to expand services to our customers.”

“As difficult as this past year has been, we are very grateful to our patrons for their support of the services we were able to deliver during the pandemic,” said Diana Brown, New Castle County’s Manager of Libraries. “From implementation in mid-June through March, curbside delivery provided almost 700,000 items to people. Now, as we transition back to normal operations over the coming months, we look forward to seeing all the faces we have missed.”

This is the first phase of re-opening and as vaccination eligibility expands, County officials expect in-person hours to be added accordingly. Approximately half of New Castle County library staff have received their first vaccination.

All New Castle County libraries will continue to offer free wireless broadband Internet service in their parking lots, as well as introduce a new service provided through a grant from the Delaware Division of Libraries for checkout of Chromebooks and Hotspots to library people.

New Castle County Public Libraries In-Person and Curbside Services
Hours of Operation
Limited In Person Services Curbside Services
Appoquinimink Library
651 N. Broad St.
Middletown DE 19709
Mon: 12:30pm – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon: 10am – 12pm
Tues & Wed: 10am – 6:30pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Bear Library
101 Governor’s Pl.
Bear DE 19701
Wed: 12:30pm – 7pm
Thurs: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon & Tues: 10am – 6:30pm
Wed: 10am – 12pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Brandywine Hundred Library
1300 Foulk Rd.
Wilmington DE 19803
Tues: 12:30pm – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon & Wed: 10am – 6:30pm
Tues: 10am – 12pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Claymont Library
400 Lenape Way
Claymont DE 19703
Mon & Thurs: 12:30pm – 7pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon, Thurs, Sat: 10am – 12pm
Tues: 10am – 6:30pm
Wed: 10am – 4:30pm
Corbit-Calloway Library
2nd & High Sts.
Odessa DE 19730
Tue & Wed: 10am – 6pm
Thurs: 1pm – 6:00pm
Mon – Wed: 10am – 6 pm
Thurs: 1pm – 6pm
Fri: 10am – 6 pm
Sat: 9am – 1pm
Delaware City Library
250 5th Street
Delaware City DE 19706
Mon & Wed: 12pm – 7:30pm
Sat: 12pm – 3:30pm
Tues & Thurs: 12pm – 7:30pm
Sat: 11am – 1pm
Elsmere Library
30 Spruce Ave.
Wilmington DE 19805
Mon: 12:30pm – 7pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Browsing only
Tues: 10am – 4:30pm
Thurs: 10am – 4:30pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Hockessin Library
1023 Valley Rd.
Hockessin DE 19707
Mon & Wed: 12:30pm – 7pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Tues: 10am – 6:30pm
Wed: 10am – 12pm
Fri: 10am – 4:30pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Kirkwood Library
6000 Kirkwood Hwy.
Wilmington DE 19808
Mon & Wed: 12:30pm – 7pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Tues: 10am – 6:30pm
Wed: 10am – 12pm
Thurs: 10am – 4:30pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
New Castle Library
424 Delaware St.
New Castle DE 19720
Tues: 10am – 7pm
Thurs: 2pm – 7pm
Sat: 10am – 5
Mon: 10am – 6:45pm
Wed: 12pm – 6:45pm
Frit: 10am – 4:45pm
Newark Free Library
750 Library Ave.
Newark DE 19711
Mon: 12:30pm – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon: 10am – 12pm
Tues & Wed: 10am – 6:30pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
North Wilmington Library
3400 N. Market St.
Wilmington DE 19802
Mon – Wed: 11:30am – 8:00pm
Thurs: 11:30am – 5:00pm
Fri & Sat: 11:30am – 4:00pm
Mon – Wed: 11:30am – 8:00pm
Thurs: 11:30am – 5:00pm
Fri & Sat: 11:30am – 4:00pm
Route 9 Library
3022 New Castle Ave.
New Castle DE 19720
Tues: 12:30pm – 7pm
Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon & Wed: 10am – 6:30pm
Tues: 10am – 12pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
Wilmington Public Library
10 E 10th St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
Mon – Wed: 9:30am – 8:00pm
Thurs: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Fri-Sat: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Mon – Wed: 9:30am – 8:00pm
Thurs: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Fri-Sat: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Woodlawn Library
2020 W. Ninth St.
Wilmington DE 19805
Wed: 12:30pm – 7pm
Thurs: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12:30pm – 5pm
Mon & Tues: 10am – 6:30pm
Wed: 10am – 12pm
Sat: 10am – 12pm
In Person Services: Limited in library browsing of new books, DVDs, other media, and special displays. Computer Access, 45 minutes per day by appointment only. Reference services and checkout of materials. Day porter and security guard will be scheduled during these hours.
Curbside Services: Delivery of books, DVDs, and other media to library guests. Delivery of printed documents, up to 10 pages black and white per day (free) at taxpayer expense.

Source: NCC

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