The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library is doing its part to lessen the spread of the coronavirus.

Director Sarah Clevidence says the decision to close was difficult but necessary.

“We as a library are very passionate about being here for our community when we’re needed, and it’s a really unusual circumstance for our community to need us to close.”

We spoke with Sarah on Saturday afternoon a few hours before they closed and there were a lot of people there stocking up on books and other items.

“We have been very busy today, and our patrons have just been amazing and very understanding of the situation, which we appreciate.”

The library closed at 5 pm Saturday and will remain closed at least through Sunday, April 5th.

They encourage patrons to take advantage of all their online resources during the closure.

More details are in the following news release from the library.

The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library is committed to the health and safety of our patrons, staff and community and have made the difficult decision to close all library branches beginning Saturday, March 14 at 5 p.m. through at least Sunday, April 5. The latest information available from Governor DeWine’s office indicates “aggressive early social distancing” is critical to stemming the spread of coronavirus.

As previously reported, we will be working with Lisa Wingate and the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts to reschedule our CommunityREAD Feature Event with Ms. Wingate. Your tickets will be honored for the new date.

The library provides many online resources for our cardholders, such as eBooks, eMagazines, eAudiobooks, music and movies through the Ohio Digital Library and Hoopla. Checkout limits for Hoopla will be increased from 10 to 20 per month during our closure. Additionally, many research and online learning tools are available in our online databases. You can find these resources on the library’s website: www.findlaylibrary.org.

Patrons are asked to hold on to their checked-out items rather than return them. Items currently checked out will have their due dates extended. If you have an item on the holds shelf it will remain there until the library reopens.

We know this is a difficult time for our community. We will resume service as soon as is appropriate. You can find the latest updates on the library’s website or Facebook.