The Friends of the Park City Library made some changes to its Rapid Reader program throughout the coronavirus pandemic last year.

The program, which gives patrons access to the library’s most popular books with the stipulation that they need to be returned within seven days, was put on hold while the library instigated curbside pickup.

The curbside pickup program allowed patrons to check out and return books while adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, according to Jean Daly, who, along with Ann Whitworth, is a co-president of Friends of the Park City Library, a nonprofit volunteer group that is dedicated to supporting the library.

“We diverted the Rapid Reader funds to make sure there would be enough books for curbside pickup,” Daly said. “That was a good thing, because thousands of books have been checked out since then.”

Things shifted once again when the library reopened to the public on March 1, said Daly.

“People are wanting to start up Rapid Readers again,” she said.

In addition, the library staff is ready to revive other programs that they temporarily stopped last year.

Those include various children’s programming and the weekly Music on the Patio series, which offers live, local singer-songwriter performances.

“There will be 12 perofmances this year, starting in mid-June and running through mid-September,” Daly said.

Friends of the Park City Library also uses funding to purchase and take care of an array of plants to make the patio a nice live-music setting, said Whitworth.

The library also will continue offering tutor.com, the on-demand, online tutor program run by Princeton Review for students in grades kindergarten through 12, according to Whitworth.

“This is free for people who are library card holders, especially students, whose educational lives have been disrupted by the pandemic this year,” she said. “Kids can connect with a live tutor. It offers tutoring in Spanish, and features ACT tutorial programming.”

Friends of the Park City Library will also purchase and care for various equipment for summer play, Daly said.

“We have always used some of our budget for seasonal toys and equipment,” she said. “We have sleds for the winter and we will have all sorts of summer sports equipment for people who want to use the Library Field for fun and games.”

To help support these programs, Friends of the Park City Library will dole out $9,000, and will start its membership drive in May to help supplement the funding, Daly said.

In the meanwhile, the public can help with the funding through an array of opportunities, Whitworth said.

The first is the Friends of the Park City Library bookstore wall that is located just inside the library’s entrance.

“All the books on the wall are for sale, and the hardcover books are $2, while the paperbacks are $1,” Whitworth said.

Other donations can be made by visiting parkcitylibrary.org, or becoming a Friends of the Park City Library member.

“Memberships start at $25, and can be done online or through mail,” she said.

One of the biggest ways to help the Friends of the Park City Library is to attend the annual Miner’s Day book sale in September.

The sale raises an average of $10,000, according to Daly.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get that money because of the pandemic last year,” she said. “So right now, our memberships and booksale wall donations are very important.”

Every cent helps, Whitworth said.

“We help the library provide services that aren’t possible in their budget,” she said. “We supplement their needs, and it has been very rewarding for us to do this.”

“Over the years, the library has taken on the role of a community center, and it’s been wonderful to see how, over time, it has become more than a book resource for people,” Daly said. “We want to keep these programs going.”