In the interest of protecting the well-being of our community, and following information from state and federal public health authorities regarding the mitigation of the spread of the novel Coronavirus, the Blake Memorial Library will temporarily close to the public beginning Wednesday, March 18. While our regular building is already closed for renovations, our plan was to reopen on March 30th. At this time, not only is the mini-library at the East Corinth Congregational Church closed, effective immediately, but plans to reopen the library after renovations are completed are now also postponed until further notice.
At this time, all in-person programming is also canceled until further notice, including our weekly story hour. We will be providing virtual programming. Check back for details.
This was a difficult decision to make. We value our role as a gathering space and resource for our community, but remaining open is not in the best interest of our community at this time, especially for the most vulnerable among us. We hope to work closely with the towns of Topsham and Corinth to make sure our community’s needs are met as best as possible during this difficult time. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we do our part to support the health and safety of our community.
During this time, the WIFI will continue to be available in our parking lot. Also, while we are closed, our free online resources, including ebooks, audiobooks, and online classes, remain available and can all be accessed 24/7 on our website: https://blakememorial.org/explore-research/ If you have questions about materials that can be accessed remotely or would like to set up your online account, please contact us at blakemem@tops-tele.com
If you have any other questions, concerns, or need our support during this time, please do not hesitate to email us at blakemem@tops-tele.com
For more information on COVID-19:
Go here to the Vermont Department of Libraries Preparedness site,
Go here to the Vermont Department of Health Preparedness site,
Go here to get CDC information.
For town response to COVID-19 please see below:
CORINTH
Corinth has issued a letter to Corinth residents which can be found here: https://corinthvt.org/
For a medical emergency, call 911 or 439-5155. If you need other sorts of assistance, there are volunteers available who can help with groceries, prescriptions, heat or other problems associated with restrictions to your movement. To request help from these volunteers, call 439-3500 and leave a message. Messages will be checked frequently. If you would like to be one of the volunteers helping people, please send an email to slcorinth@gmail.com with a subject line of Volunteer.
TOPSHAM
Topsham has also arranged a group of volunteers to assist in any way needed. To volunteer or request help from these volunteers, call the town hall at 439-5505 or call Jim Bulger at 439-5259.
Other Important Resources:
Local Mental Health Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kCKk6b2fwqwz6J9oOcfyBDX7H6sCesJJDvEsYRiWivI/edit
Small Business Administration and Loans Available for Vermont Businesses and Non-Profits: https://www.sba.gov/offices/disaster/dfoce/resources/1658442
Department of Labor and Unemployment Claims: https://labor.vermont.gov/
VT Health Connect for Health Insurance Enrollment – https://info.healthconnect.vermont.gov/
Connecting Bradford Facebook page is also a good source for local updates/resources: https://www.facebook.com/connectingbradford/
Map of public Wi-fi hot spots that can help those who don’t have access to the internet: https://vtpsd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c926d155167d4a5586e8e1aca1701cfa&fbclid=IwAR1fiBbx6vC4bkr9WhbCsRCqwDGAsAZqBiid1ICl5o7miBPpmJNI7z4PeJA
Also, please make sure you are following our Facebook page for updates and additional links to resources: https://www.facebook.com/The-Blake-Memorial-Library-83391479396/