View from the Library: We're open longer these days
I am very pleased to announce that we have expanded our hours. We now have regular, year-round hours and have even added two extra hours each week from where we were pre-COVID. Our new hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. We are reserving the hour of 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesdays and Fridays for those age 65 and better or immunocompromised. We are still requiring masks and have a few other restrictions in place at this time, such as a requested 30-minute time limit and social distancing.
Get your tax forms
We have IRS tax forms and booklets. We have form 1040 and 1040-SR, along with the instruction booklet available to pick up in the library or for curbside pickup. If you need other forms or schedules you can print those from our public computers. The first five pages printed per day are free. As a reminder, the state of Montana no longer prints any forms or booklets. You can also print those in the library, if needed. Don’t forget you can e-File (oftentimes for free) by visiting www.IRS.gov and www.mtrevenue.gov.
Help us help you
We are still in the midst of our pilot project involving new items and how they are available for hold. We want to hear from you. To provide feedback, please ask for a postcard survey at the library or complete the online survey by visiting mtsc.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/POLSON, which is also our online catalog link. Your feedback on this project is very important to us as it will determine whether or not we make this a permanent change. If you are unfamiliar with the project, the Partners sharing group is keeping new items in their own library for the first 60 days before allowing other Partner library patrons to place holds on them. This allows each library’s patrons an opportunity to browse the new book shelves for new things their library has purchased or place holds on the new items their own library has added. Please take a minute to complete the brief survey.
Leslie Budewitz reading
Save the date for 7 p.m. April 20, when we host Bigfork author Leslie Budewitz on Zoom for a book reading and Q&A about her newest release, “Bitterroot Lake.” This novel is a new genre for the cozy mystery writer — her first suspense novel set at a lakeside Montana Lodge and written under the pseudonym Alicia Beckman. The book comes out April 13 in case you would like to read it beforehand.
Felicia’s Story Time
Watch for Felicia’s Story Time videos on our YouTube channel. This month we celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, the start of spring and a classic story about an old woman who swallowed — many strange things. A new video is posted weekly, and we have limited take-and-make kits available at the library.
Curbside pickup is available for everyone during open hours. Please call us at 883-8225 or email us at polsoncl@polson.lib.mt.us with questions or to request curbside pickup.
Abbi Dooley is director of North Lake County Public Library in Polson.