Canyon Lake not on list of reopened libraries

The Riverside County Library System reopened most of its libraries for limited library service on Monday, but the Canyon Lake Library Branch was not one of them. The Canyon Lake Library continues to offer Express Service, which allows patrons to pick up holds that have been placed and to drop off materials at an outside book drop.

The Canyon Lake Library will continue to be closed until further notice. Libraries in neighboring cities are open, but still have COVID-19 restrictions in place.

There are libraries in Lake Elsinore, Sun City and Paloma Valley that are open to the public where computers can be used and books checked out. However, the libraries have limited capacity and are limiting patrons to one hour in the library per day. Storytelling programs, reading rooms and other typical services are not available. Masks must be worn and physical distancing will be enforced.

Meanwhile, the Canyon Lake Library continues to offer Express Service which allows its patrons to pick up holds that have been placed. After placing a hold for an item on the library website and receiving notification that it is available for pickup, call the library at (951) 244-9181 to make arrangements to pick up the holds.

When picking up the items, a face covering must be worn. The holds are picked up at the designated area where a library card or photo ID will need to be presented. The items are returned to the outside book drop only. It is important that those returning items do not attempt to bring them into the library or hand them to staff.

All returned materials will be quarantined before being reissued again, as recommended by health and safety officials. All due dates on existing checkouts will be extended appropriately in order for items to not become overdue. Due dates on new checkouts will follow normal checkout periods.

“Please check your account to make sure your materials are returned by their due dates,” the library said. “Due to items being quarantined, you may not see them removed from your account for a few days, but all return dates will be backdated to reflect the day you dropped items off.”