From Wi-Fi Hotspots To Language Learning, Alachua County Library District Serves Community During Pandemic
By Aurora Martínez
April 29, 2021
For about seven months in 2020, Radha Selvester couldn’t talk. She had lost her vocal cord nerve, her thyroid and 50 lymph nodes to multiple surgeries and treatment for cancer. During that time, books from the Alachua Branch Library kept the 62-year-old company.
“One of my coping strategies for the stress and anxiety of the pandemic was reading,” Selvester said.
When the coronavirus pandemic first hit, Selvester checked out 14 books from the Alachua Branch Library. By the end of July, she sent some back with a note for the librarians explaining she was recovering from a surgery and needed more books to read. Librarians selected a few more based on her preferences, which she was able to obtain by the library’s curbside pickup service, she said.