Update, 11/2: The Cleveland Park Library will serve as an Election Day voting center on Nov. 3 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The library will not be open for regular library services.

Update, 10/19:Beginning on November 9, the city’s Chevy Chase, Georgetown, and Palisades neighborhood libraries will reopen with limited services.

The three locations will follow the system’s current operating schedule, and will be open weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.. The city plans to add Saturday hours at all open locations later in November. — Nathan Diller

Original:

Beginning next Monday, June 29, libraries in all eight wards of the city will allow customers inside to pick up and return library books and use computers and printers.

Eight of the library’s 25 branches will reopen daily from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. They will close every day from 2:00-3:00 p.m. for cleaning. The reopening branches are:

• Anacostia (Ward 8)
• Benning (Ward 7)
• Cleveland Park (Ward 3)
• Mount Pleasant (Ward 1)
• Northeast (Ward 6)
• Shepherd Park (Ward 4)
• West End (Ward 2)
• Woodridge (Ward 5)

Library staff will implement a number of new safety measures such as limiting the number of people inside at one time, requiring face masks and enforcing social distancing. The number of computers will start small and increase after two weeks.

Avid book lovers won’t be able to spend as much time as they might like in the reopened libraries. Patrons will not be able to browse the stacks, use the readings rooms or outdoor terraces, or reserve meeting rooms until a later phase of reopening.

Six other branches will open for outdoor book return on July 6 and for expanded services on July 13:

• Bellevue (Ward 8)
• Capitol View (Ward 7)
• Francis-Gregory (Ward 7)
• Petworth (Ward 4)
• Shaw (Ward 6)
• Tenley-Friendship (Ward 3)

The library’s reopening is in accordance with D.C.’s Phase 2 guidance. Libraries, museums, restaurants and other businesses can reopen with limited capacity, and mass gatherings of up to 50 people are now permitted (up from the previous limit of 10).

Demand for library services has exploded during the coronavirus pandemic. “Since the library closed on March 16, we’ve had about seven thousand people register for library cards,” DCPL executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan told NPR. “We’ve had over 300,000 books borrowed since mid-March, which is astounding considering that our collections are limited.” That’s 37% higher than the same period last year.

Across the river in Virginia, libraries in Arlington remain closed. Fairfax County libraries are also still closed but do offer curbside service.

In Maryland, Montgomery County Public Libraries will resume some services on Monday, June 29. Prince George’s County libraries have not yet announced a reopening date.