Library to close for inventory Wednesday, August 14 – Friday, August 16

The San Juan Island Library will close August 14-16 for an inventory of its collection, library director Laurie Orton announced. The Library will be closed to the public Wednesday through Friday, the same time as the County Fair, to minimize disruption to island residents. “Historically, Fair Week has been a pretty slow time in the Library,” Orton said.

The library last conducted a complete inventory in 2006. While theft at the San Juan Island Library is quite low, the library’s catalog does contain errors that an inventory will identify so errors can be corrected. The experience with new library software last summer caused hundreds of errors that are slowly being rectified, but which could more easily be corrected with complete records.

Library staff will electronically scan each item in the library. Preparations for inventory reveal that the library has one hundred ten (110) different collection areas (e.g. adult fiction, teen fiction, juvenile fiction, easy fiction) and a total collection of more than 58,000 individual items, including books, CDs, DVDs, and maps.

The public is requested to refrain from returning items during the three day closure. Bookdrops will be temporarily closed. Books returned during the closure may not be checked in until Monday, August 19.

In addition to its collections of materials to loan, the library also provides public access computers and WiFi. The library web site provides consumer, financial and academic information, language learning, and test preparation to account holders from any location with internet access. The Library web site will be fully operational during the closure to provide online access to information resources. Library cards are free to island residents with proof of residency.

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