HALIFAX, N.S. — Creative staff are editing and updating the Halifax Public Libraries playbook daily.

“One of the things that we talk a lot about at the library is adapting, listening to our community,” said Asa Kachan, the chief librarian who oversees the system’s 14 branches across Halifax Regional Municipality.

“We belong to the public so our job is to find ways that we can respond to the public and the most natural way we can to meet the needs that people are facing.”

The creativity and ingenuity of the library’s more than 300 staffers has been put to the test with the closure of all branches being extended until at least April 30 to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

“This was a major shift,” Kachan said from her makeshift home office. “We are used to welcoming thousands of people a day in all of our branches. To not see those people in our community face to face feels really difficult to us.

“That has really given us the impetus to say, OK, we can’t do that, what can we do and really walk toward, run toward solving the problems for the community.”

Kachan said loan periods for materials were extended and late fines were suspended.

“That was easy.”

A more monumental change has been developing an online registration for library cards.

“In the old world, you had to walk into our libraries to get a card. The team had been working on this project. We closed our doors early last week and by Wednesday night we were able to launch an online card registration process. That’s been really popular with the community.”

More than 3,000 people who hadn’t had library cards before signed on through the online registration in the first couple of days it was available.

“Halifax is one of the cities in Canada that has the highest rate of library participation,” Kashan said. “We are already really engaged … these are more people. That’s exciting for us.”

The head librarian said the library card connects residents with a wide range of free online resources, including programs like Overdrive that offer audio books and e-books and RB Digital that provides online access to 200 excellent magazines.

“You can read them online or download them to your device and read them later,” she said.

Kachan said people can fill their days with language training courses and a platform called Hoopla that streams movies and also has a selection of audio and e-books.