May 2020

Ames Public Library has introduced a new, contact-free Curbside Holds Pickup service. Curbside Holds Pickup will allow Library cardholders to request physical items like books and DVDs, then schedule an appointment to pick them up in front of the Library.

Director Sheila Schofer says staff is excited to get materials moving out the door again. “We’ve been working hard to safely provide as many of our services as possible to as many people as possible. We were able to ramp up our online offerings quickly when this started, but we wanted to be very thoughtful in planning a safe way to circulate physical items.”

Ames Public Library opened up Curbside Holds Pickup on May 18, 2020 for customers who had held items already waiting for them. “Since we closed, the holds shelves have been absolutely packed. We knew we needed to get some of those items out of the way before we could handle a flood of new requests,” explained Schofer. “With that experience, and a lot more space, we’re ready to open the service up to all of our Library cardholders!” For more information about Curbside Holds Pickup or to schedule an appointment, visit www.amespubliclibrary.org/curbside.