Is your local library open in this time of Covid-related closures? It sure is, with some limitations to in-person visits but an open welcome for online access with a trove of multimedia resources available 24-7, and so much more than you might assume if you havent visited your local library recently.

Libraries in Globe and Payson now require appointments to be made in advance, in order to limit crowding and assure social-distanced safety in accord with federal, state and county regulations. Appointments arent required at Miami Memorial Library, which is open Tuesday-Friday from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. - noon; call 928-473-2621.

Business closures and many parents sudden introduction to homeschooling have prompted residents to search the internet for worthwhile online sources providing both education and entertainment. Gila County Governments Library District is here to help. If you have not already bookmarked the new and improved website, add gcldaz.org to your browser favorite shortcuts, and connect on social media at facebook.com/GCLDAZ for daily posts ranging from storytime videos for kiddos to convenient links to an array of magazines, newspapers and books online.

Youll find an impressive aggregator, with links for all ages; for example, lively storytime videos narrated onscreen often with a song by Adrea Ricke (Toddler Storytime each Thursday, and Babytime on Wednesdays).

Charming stories read aloud are just one of the many ways our libraries have found to continue serving local residents during a difficult time, said Gila County Public Services Librarian Elaine Votruba. Payson, Globe and Miami Library began to offer curbside service for students doing school work, and adults as well. Parents can call the library and tell them what the student needs, and the staff will find items and arrange an appointed time to meet for pickup in the parking lot during normal business hours and all our libraries are open for any type of questions, too.

No internet? No problem

Libraries also have free WiFi. Even though buildings now limit public access in order to keep both staff and visitors safer and prevent the spread of Covid-19, youre welcome to park at the library of your choice and connect on your laptop or wireless device. Spend even just a few minutes exploring gcldaz.org to find an amazing portal that links to all your favorite magazines yes, even the National Enquirer and all free to browse online.

A comprehensive site named GALE has the world at your fingertips with pages linking readers to the Encyclopedia Britannica, InContext for students, the Learning Express Library, and subjects ranging from science and U.S. history to global issues, biographies, literature and academia.

You will also find the following through the Gila County Library District portal: book reviews and authors, genealogy, Pronunciator and PowerSpeak language tutorials, legal forms and AzLawHelp.

Kids and adults all are welcome at gcldaz.org, where index page links include children, youth and young adult. Readers of any age can easily get distracted by the mind-boggling rack of popular magazine titles. Whether you prefer the erudite New Yorker or lightweight celebrity news of US or In Touch, youll find access here free. The Week, the National Enquirer, National Geographic, Prevention, Food Network Magazine, Cooking with Paula Deen, PC, Smithsonian, Soap Opera Digest, Taste of Home, WIRED and so many more magazines than space allows to list here. Read more at GCLDAZ, and please like and follow the new group page (search keywords Gila County Library District) for posts spotlighting new reading-aloud videos for kids, and Pro Tips from our local library experts showcasing library links you might not find without an insiders help.

Tour Gila County museums

OK, you may have visited Bullion Plaza in Miami or the Rim Country Museum in Payson but did you know theres a Miami Sports Hall of Fame on Adonis Avenue in our own town of Miami or the Pine-Strawberry Museum in Gila Countys northernmost community? Among library district resources is a museum page with links to all Gila County Museums. Take a virtual tour, get better acquainted with the Northern Gila County Historical Society (also known as The Museum of the Forest) and plan a visit to Payson to see the collections in person once were all able to travel safely again and museums reopen. Explore (virtually, for now) the Gila County Historical Society, the Perkins Store Museum in Young, the Visitor Center at Roosevelt Lake and Globes famous Besh Ba Gowah Archeological Park.

Wondering about books in stock?

Building access may be limited but you can still borrow books from our local libraries, which have arranged innovative ways to get books into the hands of Gila County residents who love to read. Moreover, the search function at gcldaz.org is fast (and, again theres free WiFi in the parking lot). Try it yourself; we tested the search on Thursday, choosing a rare book about a uniquely Arizona subject. Using the single keyword Filaree, quick as a flash it found the historical nonfiction account described as a moving novel of pioneer life in Arizona that has become a classic. Based on the life of the authors mother, it overturns every stereotype of western womanhood.

Want to learn more about our states unique plants, animals and biota? Search by author using the keywords John Alcock to find which of our libraries have titles such as After the wildfire: ten years of recovery from the Willow Fire, published in 2017 (both copies were available when we checked last week); or the lyrical writers Animal behavior: an evolutionary approach (1979, one copy available); In a desert garden: love and death among the insects (1998, both of two available), and either Sonoran Desert Spring or Sonoran Desert Summer collections of essays he wrote in 1985 and 1990, a delightful mix or scientific observation with seasonal ephemera.

Explore TumbleBooks for young readers in grades K-6, and a TumbleMath companion; links to ebooks at teenbookcloud.com; an audio book database for all ages at audiobookcloud.com; even RomanceBookCloud for a gauzy escape from the daily dirge and drama of Covid-19. All are welcome at gcldaz.org; search the keywords Gila-County-Library-District to join our new group page on Facebook.

If you have any questions or need help, contact your local library: Globe Public Library 928-425-6111, Miami Memorial Library 928-473-2621 or Payson Public Library 928-474-9260.

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Library Resources: They're online, free and 24-7 - coppercountrynews