Provided by Prince William County
Prince William Public Libraries (PWPL) will dedicate staff to help provide support to the Prince William Health District and Prince William County’s COVID-19 Vaccine Call Centers. Staff from all 12 PWPL branches have volunteered to support the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines by helping to schedule vaccine appointments and provide general phone support.
In response to staff hours being put towards vaccine call centers, PWPL will offer Contact-Free Curbside Pickup Service only beginning Feb. 1, 2021. The physical buildings are not open to the public, but other services will remain available, even while many staff are working at the call centers.
Patrons can schedule pickup service by calling their preferred branch or by scheduling a pickup time at pwcgov.org/library.
- Bull Run, Central, Chinn Park, Haymarket Gainesville Manassas City, Montclair, Potomac: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Dale City, Dumfries, Independent Hill, Lake Ridge, Nokesville: Monday – Thursday, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Closed Friday and Sunday.
“Contact-Free Curbside Pickup was first offered just a week after PWPL first closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020,” comments Deborah Wright, PWPL director. “It has since become a popular service throughout the remainder of 2020 and will become part of PWPL’s standard services in the future.”
PWPL will also continue its phone assistance during the hours noted above and will offer virtual programming through its website, pwcgov.org/library, and on social media. In FY2020, more than 4,600 virtual programs were enjoyed by nearly 634,000 “attendees.”
PWPL is no stranger to providing support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Just days after the libraries closed in March 2020, staff used sewing machines purchased for Central Library’s Makerspace to produce hundreds of masks for Prince William County employees. In September, PWPL began offering mobile Wi-Fi hotspots for patrons who could not visit its libraries to use public computers. In total, hotspots have been checked out more than 400 times in less than five months. Mobile hotspots are checked out by calling a PWPL branch or through the online catalog.
On Thursday, Jan. 14, the Prince William Health District, in conjunction with Prince William County Government, expanded the COVID-19 Call Center to include information on the vaccine. The call center provides information to residents concerning COVID-19 vaccines and assists with those who do not have access to a computer, the internet or email. Call center hours: Monday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 703-872-7759.
For updates on the County’s COVID-19 response and vaccination support efforts:
- Visit pwcgov.org/covid19
- Follow us on facebook.com/pwcgov or on twitter @pwcgov
- Text COVIDPWC to 888777 for COVID-19 alerts. Texto COVIDPWCES 888777 for Alertas COVID-19.
