Pictured is what the library lockers, which first rolled out last summer, look like at the Clermont County Public Library. Photo provided.
Pictured is Elyse French, branch manager at the Union Township Branch of the Clermont County Public Library, when she spoke to the Union Township Board of Trustees at its April 12 Board meeting.
Inside a book, the reader can be transported to other worlds; inside a library, a Clermont County resident can be transported to the multiverse.
Or another way of putting that: The Clermont County Public Library through its 10 branch locations, and its website, offer such a cornucopia of services and needs for county residents, but there is nothing “strange” about it.
Elyse French, the branch manager at the Union Township Branch, explained the breadth of these services at a recent Union Township Board of Trustees meeting, prompting The Sun to follow up with her via email.
French, originally from Powell, a suburb of Columbus, relocated to Cincinnati about seven years ago to get her start at the Cincinnati Library. She received her bachelor’s in German Literature and Language from Transylvania University, and her master’s of Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky.
“I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to be a librarian,” she said. “My mom was a school librarian before she retired and her aunt (my great aunt) was a librarian in Louisville, Kentucky, as well.”
In that way, French said being a library is “kind of a family business.”
Prior to the Cincinnati relocation, French was working as a records librarian for the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and once she made the relocation, she worked as a children’s librarian.
After working at the Bond Hill and Mariemont branches, French applied for the branch manager position with CCPL. She’s been the manager since 2020.
Libraries hold books, of course, but they are also the reservoir of programming CCPL offers, some of which French said included storytime (which includes a partnership with the Union Township Veterans Memorial Park, where the children’s librarian will take the children for storytime), book clubs for adults and teens, tech programs, craft programs, family movie nights, homeschool hangout, STEAM programs, and more.
All event programming upcoming is available on CCPL’s website, including registering for those events, at clermontlibrary.org/.
In addition to its slew of program offerings, French said they offer services, such as at-home COVID-19 tests, notary services, voter registration, Golden Buckeye card registration (for Ohioans 60 or older, and residents aged 18-59 with a disability), and the library also offers meeting rooms, particularly two are available at the Union Township Branch.
On the digital and technological front, the library offers streaming services, eBooks, printing (which residents can do remotely now), scanning, faxing, WiFi, and in particular with the WiFi, the WiFi works out in the parking lot, so if the library isn’t open, someone can still access the WiFi from the parking lot, French said.
One of the most convenient features at the Union Township branch, and all the branches, are the library lockers. The lockers were first rolled out last summer, and are now available at all 10 branch locations.
Those lockers provide residents with 24/7 access to their holds in a contactless fashion. The contactless function is why the lockers qualified as an appropriate use under CARES Act funding.
French also said the library is still offering curbside service for residents, which they can access by calling the branch.
“We will pull materials off shelves or check out holds and bring them outside to our curbside table for pick-up,” French explained.
The COVID-19 tests are also available, while in-stock, through the curbside service.
As a former children’s librarian, and current member of the Summer Reading planning team, French said she’s particularly “super excited” about Summer Reading.
“We have great prizes for all ages, including books for children. Union Township is hosting Crystal Clear Science to kick off Summer Reading on June 4th,” French said.
In addition, French said the Storytime at the Veterans Memorial Park is happening the first and third Thursday every month.
With adults, French said they have Crafter Dark programs that are “very cool.”
This month, she said they will be making galaxy notebooks.
The adult book clubs are also coming up, including one in conjunction with Grant’s bicentennial, To Rescue the Republic: Ulysses S. Grant, the Fragile Union, and the Crisis of 1876 by Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney.
But of course, we return again to the soul of the library: its books, both physical and digital. French explained that CCPL has an “excellent” Collection Development department, which is tasked with material selection and ordering, but they are always willing to hear opinions from managers and librarians, such as learning which materials are flying off the shelves, or that guests are requesting, but the library doesn’t have.
In fact, French said residents can request a purchase for materials that CCPL doesn’t own through its website, and if the library is able to purchase the item, the guest will immediately be added to the holds list.
“Within the branch, the staff and I weed out old, outdated, and damaged materials. We keep the materials moving out so that we can fit new materials in,” French said. “Items weeded from the collection are sold in our book sales or recycled, if possible.”
She added, “We are always rotating book displays to inform our guests what we have in the collection, and we highlight all our new materials in special sections.”
French also emphasized the eResources CCPL offers to everyone of all ages, 24/7 from anywhere and any place with an internet connection.
“We offer free eBooks, eAudiobooks, music and video, and digital magazines – all available to download or stream to your device,” she said.
Interested? All Ohio residents are eligible for a CCPL card. You don’t even have to be a Clermont County resident, as this reporter, who has a CCPL card, can attest to.
“We are here and willing to help. People who have visited since they were children are always surprised that the library is a very different place than they remember,” French said. “Come visit us and see how the library has evolved over the years.”
For more information, please visit clermontlibrary.org/.