SAN PEDRO, Calif. — Locked gates and closed signs are now the norm in most public spaces, but since recently closing to the public in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff at the San Pedro Regional Library has continued to come to work despite the empty aisles.

Observing health department best practices, the San Pedro library team wants to make sure kids don’t miss out on the best time of day: story time!

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“Hi, everyone. Welcome back to another mini story time,” said Ednita Kelly, speaking to her online audience via iPhone. “I want to welcome our audience and, once again, I want to thank you for practicing your social distancing and staying in your bubble.” A colleague off camera then blew some bubbles infront of the iPhone.

The library has been recording their story times and posting them on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.

 

 

Kelly says as many as 50 kids were coming for daily story time. Multiply that number by all the library branches in Los Angeles County, and that's a lot of kids that could be missing out.

“It's heartbreaking to not be able to see our families,” said Kelly. “I know they rely on this outing every week. It's a time for them to come to the library and see each other, read with our volunteer readers, and then also check out books. And so I'm hoping that they're able to catch these mini story times and connect with us in that way.”

Even though Kelly is currently only reading to a stand-in audience of toy animals, she puts just as much heart into her readings as ever.

The library also makes sure they are catering to all ages by choosing a good variety of books to read.

“I wanted to share a story on how parents could talk to their children about worrying because nobody has been in the situation before and maybe they don't know how to bring it up with their children,” said Kelly, adding that the next day they might choose a book on punctuation for older kids.

No one knows, at the moment, how long the library system could remain closed, but their staff wants everyone to know the library is still a resource for learning and have many services available online.

Cathie Chenoweth, from the L.A. Central Library, explained via internet chat, “The Los Angeles Public Library is kind of like Amazon meets Netflix meets Hulu, but we're free! We have so many great resources besides the physical books, we have an extensive e-book and audio book collection. We're still here for you!”

“These are stressful times, so sometimes we need to take a break," Kelly said. "I see San Pedro’s kids as my family, so I give my all when we do story time.”

One day, the kids will be back to join Kelly and the toy animals at the library, but until then they can always find story time online.