All branches of the Knox Co. Public Library will be back open starting July 17 on their regular schedules.
The library reopened eight of its 19 locations on May 29, as part of phase two of the county's reopening plan. Now all locations will be back open and all furloughed employees will be brought back to work.
All visitors and staff members must wear face coverings in the library except children who are 12 and under and people with relevant medical conditions. Masks will be available for those that don't have one.
No public computers will be available, but there's free Wi-FI in each branch. They've also suspended in-person storytimes and other programs and meeting rooms are closed.
Each library has been fully sanitized and plexiglass sneeze shields are in place at all service counters.
All returned library materials will be isolated for 72 hours to ensure safety.
“We are very happy to be able to reopen all facilities for our patrons,” commented Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. “The library provides important services to our community from early literacy to lifelong learning.”
Although the library is not able to offer in-person programs, many storytimes, podcasts and other programs are available online at www.knoxlib.org.