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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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