The Library is pleased to resume borrowing services to our cardholders at our temporary location. Cardholders may request books, audiobooks, and/or DVDs through the online catalog via our website or by calling the library directly. Adult patrons may have a maximum of 5 books, 2 DVDs and 2 audiobooks checked out at once. Children and teens may have up to 10 children’s or teen books.

Once an item is requested, patrons will be notified by telephone through the automated system when their item is available for pick-up. Instructions on how to arrange a pick-up time will be included in the phone call. Patrons will need to call the Library to schedule a time for pick-up within 72 hours of receiving their notification call. Items will only be held for 96 hours after that. Pick-up times will be scheduled every 30 minutes from 9:30 am-5:00 pm, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays,12:30 pm-7:00 pm on Wednesdays, and 9:30 am-1:00 pm on Saturdays.

Items will be automatically checked out to the patron on the day of their scheduled pick-up and placed on a table outside the building, clearly labeled with the patron’s last name approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time. Patrons may retrieve their items from the table, no further action on their part is required. For patrons with mobility issues, arrangements for items to be placed directly into their vehicle’s trunk can be made.

Pick-up times may be rescheduled twice.Returns will not be accepted at the curbside station and must be placed in the dropbox including DVDs and audiobooks.

Other existing circulation policies apply including renewal limits and borrowing times.

The Library’s temporary location is located in Bear Pointe Plaza on US-23 South.

Living in a current state of unprecedented crisis,  historians and everyday people of the future will want to know how we spent our days. What was the NE Michigan, lived experience of a global pandemic from a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. In hopes of sharing peoples' stories with current and future generations, the Special Collections Department, of the Alpena County Public Library, invites you to keep a diary of living during the COVID-19 epidemic in Northeast Michigan.

Diarists may type or write by hand, transcribe news, draw, compose poems, gather stories and so forth. No stress needs to be placed on proper grammar, spelling or style. The emphasis is on self-expression and a willingness to be a social commentator. Events are changing by the day. They are specific to you, and to your families and friends and communities. Please start writing now! The Special Collections Department will welcome your diary’s deposit in either analog or digital form.

To submit your information and to view writing prompts from the Library of Michigan visit Google submission form.  Questions about this project can be directed to Don La Barre, Head of Special Collections, at dlabarre@alpenalibrary.org.