Stay Safe
Since the pandemic began, we have put the majority of our focus on content delivery when we haven't been working on projects related to the town's broader emergency response effort. We want to keep people safe at home reading. We have circulated 1,224 ebooks and audiobooks digitally since we had to close our doors.

Since we began physical book delivery two weeks ago, we have delivered 342 physical items to Douglas homes. We still have more than 24,000 items available, so go here and place holds if you or your family need anything in our next round of deliveries (May 7). I will also be delivering Annual Town Reports that day, so email me or call us if you would like one.

Now that delivery is established we are going to focus on re-weaving the fabric of our community back together. We miss our patrons and our patrons miss each other, so we are turning our eyes toward virtual programming. None of us knows exactly how long this is going to last, but it is time to begin preparing for a summer where we aren't able to be together face-to-face. Even when we do re-open, it will have to be in carefully thought out phases and guidance on what that will look like from state authorities and professional organizations is still forthcoming.

And so we are ramping up virtual programming, so keep an eye on the website calendar for new upcoming event details. Intrepid Readers , the Scifi Book Club , and the Greatest Book Club have all been officially scheduled for May. Deb is working on storytimes and getting her book clubs online as well. Expect updates on these programs next Thursday.

We are also beginning a new project which you can read about below: the Coronavirus Memory Project. This is a momentous historical event we are living through. Not far down the road, children are going to be writing school papers about it. Historians will be writing books. Society will be piecing together the story, and you will want to remember it.

At that point, the facebook threads, twitter chains, text messages, and emails will be buried under new content. So let's collect our thoughts and experiences while this is unfolding into an archive that we can make available both immediately and forever for the benefit if our community. Send us long-form letters. Interview your kids and send us the audio. Draw pictures. Write poetry. Tell us what it is like for you, your family, your friends, your business, and your pet fish. If you want it to be anonymous, mail it with PO BOX 607 with delivery and return address and don't give us any identifying information. A preservable record of these moments will be a priceless asset to our town's history, so please help us make it!

Thanks for Reading,

Justin Snook
Coronavirus Memory Project
“To have a sense of history one must consider oneself a piece of history.” ~ Alfred Kazin

As our community navigates through these unprecedented times, we are presented with an opportunity to create our own narrative of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic. It is a chance for us to tell our stories as we experience them, and it is a chance for us to become a chapter in the novel that is being written across the world. Our stories today will help paint a vivid picture of what life was like in the small, rural town of Douglas during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
 
The Simon Fairfield Public Library is asking the residents of Douglas to join us in creating the Coronavirus Memory Project. We want to know what your story is during this pandemic. We are asking you to share your memories and experiences - some will be happy, some will be sad, some will be boring. It doesn’t matter what kind of story it may be, the point is they are your memories and experiences, and they will be preserved for future generations.
 
What exactly is it that we want from you? We want whatever you are willing to provide us with. Your memories can take many different forms, it is about what you want to say. Some people will be more comfortable writing about their experiences, while others prefer to draw their experiences, or even write a song. There are some who might be comfortable doing video or voice recordings. There are even going to be people who decide to record daily activities - menus, to-do lists, projects, etc. And don’t forget about the kids. How do they see the pandemic? What do they have to say? Let’s give them a voice. The manner in which you record your experience isn’t as important as the preservation of your memories, whether they be happy, sad, or boring.

Let’s make our experiences of this unknown world be a chapter in the history books instead of just a footnote.  

So if you decide that you would like to participate in the Coronavirus Memory Project, please send an email to douglas.archivist@gmail.com . Any requests to remain anonymous will be honored. If you are unsure of how to start recording your memories, here is a list of questions that might help.

  • How old are you?
  • Who are you living with during the quarantine? And yes, that includes your pets.
  • Is your living space small or large? Or was it large and now it feels small?
  • What is your employment situation? Are you working from home? How is it different? What are the pros/cons? Who or what is your biggest distraction?
  • If you are one of those still working, how are you holding up? What are you doing?
  • If you have lost your job, how are you coping?
  • What is your school situation? Are you having to complete the school year remotely? How is it different from being in the classroom?
  • Are you homeschooling your children? How is that going?
  • How are your pets handling you being home all day?
  • What projects have you never had time for that you can now complete?
  • What tv shows/movies have you been watching?  
  • What books have you read?
  • What video games have you played?
  • Have you picked up any new hobbies/skills during the quarantine?
  • What does your stock-pile look like? How many rolls of toilet paper did you really buy?
  • What did you think you would miss, but don’t?
  • What did you think you wouldn’t miss, but do?
  • What activity do you miss the most?
  • How are you keeping in touch with family and friends?
  • Are there any events/vacations that you had to cancel/postpone due to the pandemic?
  • Are you a sports fanatic? How desperately are you missing sports?
  • Are you watching/reading the news? Which outlets are you using?
  • How has this affected your faith and/or spirituality?
  • Do essential and non-essential mean the same thing to you as they did a month ago?


-Rebecca Doyon-Lavallee
Archivist & Historian
Brought to you by the Friends of the Simon Fairfield Public Library.