A $10 million capital campaign is underway for renovations and/or expansion at three York County libraries. York Daily Record

In accordance with Governor Wolfs decision to close all schools and nonessential establishments in Pennsylvania, and in compliance with a directive from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, York County Libraries have been closed since March 15 to flatten the spread of coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 illness.

Your 13 York County libraries will reopen as soon as circumstances permit. All library events scheduled during this closure also are cancelled. This includes our locations in Brogue, Dillsburg, Dover, Etters, Glen Rock, Hanover, Hellam, Jacobus, Red Lion, Shrewsbury, Spring Grove, Stewartstown and York City.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation and reassess our eventual opening date. In the meantime, as Governor Wolf and PA Physician General Rachel Levine might say, stay calm, stay safe, stay home, and stay engaged.

All library materials currently checked out are automatically renewed until at least April 15. No fines will be assessed during this closure. Please retain your library materials until we reopen, and dont stress about fines or penalties. They are waived during this time.

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Bookmarks mark the place where reading is suspended to let us know where to start again. For most of us, if we are careful and fortunate, this crisis will be a catalyst for placemaking in our lives.

This shift may seem scary. It may be cumbersome. It may be annoying. But it, too, shall pass.

We shall resume. We dont know when, but, when we emerge from this challenge, we will be back stronger than ever.

And before we get back to normal, York County will show her true colors of neighborliness, common sense, prudence, decency, compassion, healing, empathy, and mercy. Let our true character light the way during this crisis and be our legacy after the closures cease.

York County Libraries will continue to closely monitor the situation and reassess our opening date as deemed necessary. Further updates will be shared on our website and through social media.

In the meantime, we encourage you to make use of our eBooks and online services at yorklibraries.org. Thousands of titles in many genres and for all ages are at the tip of your fingers. After going to the homepage, scroll down to click on the blue EBOOKS! and more icon. Then click on the Axis 360 icon.

Scroll through our Features or your favorite genre or subject and click on your pick and select checkout. Enter your library card number (its on the back of the card) and PIN (last four digits of your card number). Select read now and presto, your electronic publication will appear on your computer, laptop, I-phone, or Kindle Fire. There are no late fees.

Online resources cannot replace the sharing, fellowship, classes and sense of community that our 13 libraries provide virtually every day. And our numbers of visitors bear this out. Even during this digital revolution, libraries are more popular than ever.

Perhaps because of the digital revolution, people crave community more than ever. Thats part of the reason why, in 2019, your York County Libraries attracted over 1.5 million customers like you.

But now, with our libraries, restaurants (for dine-in), bars and theaters temporarily closed, reading at home is a great way to stay safe while stimulating our minds, expanding our knowledge, and connecting to humanity.

Responsible physical distancing does not have to mean loneliness or anxiety. It can mean reflection, rewiring, and recommitting. It can mean reading.

These days can be an opportunity to take a deep dive into your favorite reads, to dig into those books on your shelves that you havent cracked open or finished, and to download titles that you once thought you didnt have time to explore.

Also, heres a fun activity: Read a book and then compare it to its movie. Here are just a few suggestions of authors whose works have been made into captivating movies: William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, the Grimm Brothers, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ernest Hemingway, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, L. Frank Baum, Alex Haley, August Wilson, Harper Lee, Mario Puzo, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Golden, William Goldman, Markus Zusak, Margaret Mitchell, Jeff Shaara, Yang Martel, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Terry McMillan, Stephen King, Michael Creighton, J. K. Rowling, Thomas Harris, Nicholas Sparks, Suzanne Collins, James Dashner, Veronica Roth, and John Green. Movie adaptations of their stories provide great opportunities for discussion, fun debate, and humor.

For the next few weeks, thank you for your patience and understanding. We pray for your safety, nourishment (physical and spiritual) and peace of mind. We pray for prudence, forbearance, and good decision-making. We pray for good health for all. We pray for peace and enlightenment.

Because we treat each other as we want to be treated, because we gracefully endure, York County and York County Libraries will be stronger and more united than ever on the other side.

In the meantime, keep learning and keep loving (from a distance). Keep calm and read on. We will see you soon.

Robert F. Lambert is president of York County Libraries.

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Robert F. Lambert(Photo: Submitted)

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A big bookmark in our lives: York County Libraries are here for you with eBooks - York Daily Record