"It was a real surprise because we didn't have any idea it was coming so soon."

That from South Central Regional Library's Cathy Ching Tuesday, who says staff are returning to work and preparing to reopen their facilities. Libraries were included in the province's first phase of reopening the economy.

Ching notes they plan to start a hold-pickup program in Altona, Morden and Winkler as early as next week.

In the meantime, the branches are working out safe procedures to host patrons again by early June.

"It's not going to be the same, people won't be encouraged to linger," she says, adding public computers will also be available, but only in 30 minutes time slots.

The summer reading program is also expected to make a return with a virtual element in conjunction with physical packages. "Our goal is to get books out to people."

"It might look a little different, but it's not going to be any less exciting because our staff have had lots of time to think about what we could possibly do."

The South Central Regional Library includes branches in Altona, Morden, Manitou, Miami and Winkler.