The Irondequoit Public Library is excited to announce the purchase of 784 library books funded by a generous donation of $10,000 from the Irondequoit Public Library Foundation. This purchase includes 295 fiction books for adults and 489 children’s books.

During the 2020 pandemic shutdown, our book vendors temporarily halted operations for several months while the world adjusted to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. During this time, the library quickly pivoted away from our traditional operations to focus on assisting with the local response to the health crisis and aid families in their recovery from the resulting economic downturn. Our efforts included:

— Purchase of 200 mobile internet hotspots loaned to 1,382 individuals who found themselves under quarantine or working remotely without internet access.
— In partnership with both Irondequoit school districts, 220 hotspots were loaned to Irondequoit students studying remotely. These students relied on library hotspots as their primary or only means of internet access.
— Introduction of Hoopla, a new digital platform for ebooks and streaming video.

To meet the information needs of the community and provide for these unexpected expenses, the library had to divert funds away from the print materials budget. This budget change, combined with disruptions in the library procurement process and supply chain disruptions at our primary book vendor resulted in a four-month period when no physical materials could be added to the collection.

These factors resulted a significant number of modestly popular titles that were not added to the collection in 2020. Because of the Irondequoit Public Library’s generous donation, we have been able to fill this gap in the library’s collection and restore the quality of our selection to the high standard that out users have come to expect.


Published on November 17, 2022.


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