New York Public Library's Closure Extended Past March 31

 
The following update was submitted by Anthony W. Marx, President, the New York Public Library. 

My fellow New Yorkers, 

I hope you are safe and have been faring as well as possible this week under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. I write to share several updates on The New York Public Library's plans moving forward.
 
While remaining hopeful that this isn’t a long-term situation, we have decided, after careful consideration, to extend our closures beyond the originally stated date of March 31. As of now, all NYPL branches and research libraries will be closed until further notice to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Due to the rapidly-changing nature of this public health crisis, the Library feels it is best to keep our reopening date open-ended, rather than share hypothetical dates that, by necessity, might need to shift. We hope you understand and we will update you as soon as possible.
 
Due dates on checked out physical materials will be extended until after we reopen. So please don’t worry about returning items to branches or outdoor book drops; keep all materials safely at home for now.
 
We have also decided that we are suspending all in-person public programs and events across all locations through the end of May. Unfortunately, this means the postponement of several milestone events that we had coming up, including: the grand opening of our Roosevelt Island branch, all events around our 125th Anniversary on May 23, and all events around the opening of our upcoming Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL), including the official ribbon-cutting (May 15), Anniversary Week celebrations across our branches (May 10–17), and the SNFL Grand Opening Festival (May 17).
 
Obviously, it is deeply disappointing for us to postpone these exciting and important events, and unsettling to have such an unclear picture of the next few months. It is also hard for the Library—an organization that for 125 years has served the public through many hard times—to remain closed. It continues to be a difficult decision, but we know we are doing what is necessary to best support the health and wellness of New Yorkers and our City. We will get through all of this uncertainty together.
While we are closed, we are putting our energy towards finding new, creative, and smart ways to continue serving the public. Information about all we are offering can be found on our website and in our NYPL Connect e-newsletter, and the list of resources continues to grow.

Here are a few highlights: In the coming days, we will be announcing a partnership with an online tutoring service, essentially giving all PreK–12 students in NYC access to private tutors via chat "after school." So, just as we do every day in our branches, we will support a culture of learning outside of the classroom by offering families homework help and support. The chat service will be available from 2 PM to 11 PM every day, including the weekends, in English and Spanish. The new service is part of a robust suite of resources, tips, and tools we have available for kids, teens, and their families, which you can find on our website. We are continuing to work with our vendors to expand the number of research databases accessible from home; just a few days ago we added EBSCO’s academic databases to our list of research resources accessible from home, which is significant for our patrons in need of academic articles and abstracts.

These services and many more are available for free with an NYPL library card. If you don’t have one and you live in New York State, you can get one today for digital borrowing via SimplyE and start exploring immediately.

I thank you for your flexibility and patience as we work through this unprecedented situation. Our lions, Patience and Fortitude, have stood for over a century as symbols of New York City’s resilience and determination during a multitude of storms and difficult moments. That attitude and what they represent is as important today as ever before. I have faith that this City will stand strongly and calmly with them, and weather yet another storm.

Stay safe, and be well.