Spring Hill library to celebrate return of in-person events with massive book sale, live music

For more than a year, the Spring Hill Public Library has been forced to halt its in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Events like wildlife biologist Bob Tarter's "Animal Symphony," or Walt Disney animator Tim Hodge's drawing exhibition proved extremely popular among the Spring Hill community. Come March of 2020, however, and all in-person events came to a grinding halt.

That is until now, with the Friends of the Spring Hill Library (FOL), a nonprofit organization that helps volunteer and fundraise for the library, announcing a celebration of sorts marking the library's full-on return to form.

Scheduled for July 30 and 31, the library will be holding a large book sale featuring thousands of books, DVDs, audio books and CDs.

On Saturday, July 31, the book sale will also see a live musical performance from the Bad Dog Band, a classic rock n' roll group that stars Spring Hill Mayor Jim Hagaman as lead singer and keyboardist.

The book sale will conclude Saturday with a "Super Sale" where patrons can purchase a bag for $10 to fill to their heart's content. The Super Sale will take place during the final hour of the book sale from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday.

On Aug. 1 and beyond, Spring Hillians can also expect regular in-person events to return to the library for the first time in more than a year.

Spring Hill Public Library persists during the pandemic

While library and FOL staff now have reason to celebrate, the pandemic proved difficult when it came to running normal operations of the library. Library Director Dana Juriew said when the library had first closed during the early days of the pandemic, there were some immediate concerns.

"We were worried about our patrons that we didn't see; some we see every week, some we see every day," Juriew said. "There were families we didn't see for a year because of the mask mandate, [but] it's good right now, everyone's coming back and we're getting back to normal."

It was in March of 2020 that the library completely closed its doors to the public. A few months later in June 2020, and library staff were allowing people inside again, but in an extremely limited capacity; guests were encouraged to stay less than an hour, were not allowed to sit, and were required to make appointments to use computers.

Things like taking temperatures, sanitization and book quarantines kept staff busy, with volunteers at the FOL helping extensively. Yet despite the increased workload on staff and volunteers, fundraising efforts were compromised due to the pandemic and lack of in-person book sales.

Nevertheless, the FOL has managed to raise more than $31,000 over the past three years, and is hoping to recoup some of its shortcomings this year with its first in-person book sale of the year later in July.

"Somebody made a statement that the library in a community is the only place that every citizen is equal; from the richest person to the poorest person in the county, they can all come in and partake of the library," said Brandon McCulloch, Library Board of Trustees chairman.

"Equal access to everybody, so it's an equal playing field for the whole community. When I read that it really touched a nerve because it's true."

The FOL encourages residents to consider joining the organization to help with volunteer efforts. Those interested can learn more online by clicking here.