Hastings library services change ahead of November move

Hastings Branch Library’s computer and printing services are scheduled to become unavailable beginning November 2, ahead of a move that will close the library and the Health and Human Services satellite office on November 9, according to St. Johns County.

The last scheduled day to pick up holds at the Harris Center is November 7. The county says hold-pickup deadlines will be extended by seven days after the grand opening; it does not give an individual deadline for each patron in the announcement.

During the closure, items checked out from Hastings Branch will not be due and late fees will not accrue on those items, the county says. Book drops at both locations will be inaccessible and donations cannot be accepted during the transition. The notice does not establish separate start and end dates for those interruptions.

The existing library and HHS satellite office are at 400 E. Harris St. The county says they are scheduled to reopen November 13 at the new Hastings Community Center and Library, 401 N. Main St. A dedication is planned for 9 a.m. that day, with doors to open afterward; the announcement does not give an exact time when public services will begin.

The county describes the planned 10,000-square-foot facility as including a library, children’s area, meeting spaces, seed library, drive-up book drop and HHS satellite office. The dates and amenities are the county’s announced plans.

Mira Vale analysis: The move has several service dates, not one. Someone planning to use a computer or printer faces a change before the full closure, while a person waiting on a hold has a separate final pickup date at the Harris Center. Patrons may want to check the latest county information for the service they need and their individual hold deadline; the dedication time alone does not establish an exact service-start time.